Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on news
that the Government have abandoned the sale of NHS Professionals, said:
“This is
a major u-turn on a misguided policy from a Government with no solution to the
workforce crisis in the NHS. Ministers tried to push through a sale behind
closed doors but have been forced to abandon their plans in the face of wide
opposition from NHS staff and patients.
“This is
an effective and successful public body which saves
the taxpayer around £70m a year on the Government’s own estimates, by ensuring
hospitals don’t have to rely on expensive private staffing agencies.
“At a
time when the Government says it wants to cut back the use of temporary workers
it is staggering that proposals for a sale got this far. Ministers have major
questions to answer about why they tried to sell off this successful public
body and how much money has been wasted in this process which could have been
spent on patient care instead.”
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