Patricia McKeown, Regional Secretary of UNISON, was our guest on the show today. Ever since we became politically aware and involved we have been horrified and terrified by the gradual privatisation of the health service in the UK that has gone largely under the radar to the general public. She took the time to lay out the decades-long battle that has gone on to keep the health service public against a concerted campaign for privatisation that began in the Thatcher era – one that they are fighting against the monied interests and most of the political establishment. We got to a lot of different issues, the GP issue, the public sector pay cap, private finance initiatives, the crucial role of Unions, the collapse of government at Stormont, the closing of hospitals in NI and the wider UK, and the miracle of the Cuban health service – which was modelled on the original NHS.

“I consider making any profit from the healthcare of people to be quite obscene” – Patricia McKeown

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RESOURCES

https://www.unison-ni.org.uk/whos-who

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/health-and-wellbeing-2026-delivering-together

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37765758

https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/systems-not-structures-changing-health-and-social-care-full-report

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/publications/2016-2021/2016/health/4016.pdf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/salim-lamrani/cubas-health-care-system-_b_5649968.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/cuba-health/508859/

https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/nhs

https://fullfact.org/health/NHS-privatisation/

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