Hewitt: Fight off NHS privatisation

Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, has rejected claims that the NHS is being privatised and said that privatisation is something the government must resist.

Ms Hewitt told Channel 4’s News at Noon that the government was not losing the political argument, but that it was becoming “crystal clear”.

She said that there were two camps: one who stand for a health service free at the point of use, and those from the right-wing who are calling for top-up insurance and patient charges. This was privatisation, she commented.

“That’s what we’ve got to fight off, but to do that we’ve got to make sure that within this hugely increased budget that we?re giving the NHS – that we’ve asked people to pay for – that we’re getting the best patient care,” she added.

Ms Hewitt concluded that there were some “wonderful things” happening in the NHS and that there was nowhere she would rather be.

Earlier in the week, Ms Hewitt had to cut a speech short after she was heckled by furious nurses at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual conference. However, she was given a warmer reception yesterday at the NHS Employers’ conference, where she thanked the audience for not shouting at her before she started her speech. The prime minister, Tony Blair, has publicly supported the health minister and has said that she should not resign.

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