{"id":38300,"date":"2017-01-31T14:58:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T13:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=38300"},"modified":"2017-01-31T17:33:13","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T16:33:13","slug":"taryn-youngstein-our-nhs-is-not-up-for-grabs-mr-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2017\/01\/31\/taryn-youngstein-our-nhs-is-not-up-for-grabs-mr-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Taryn Youngstein: Our\u00a0NHS is not up for grabs,\u00a0Mr\u00a0Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A year ago, the idea that a property magnate come reality TV star could become the most powerful person on earth was unthinkable. A week ago, the idea that he may have any involvement in the NHS seemed ludicrous. But then Theresa May was invited to become the first foreign dignitary to have an audience with Donald Trump, the new President of the US, and when questioned<\/a> she refused to deny that the NHS may be on the table for a trade deal with the United States.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim\u00a0Farron\u00a0said<\/a>: \u201cTheresa May must immediately clarify that the NHS will not be up for sale in any future negotiations with Trump. Hollowing out our health service in the name of a trade deal with the US would be an utter betrayal of most of those who voted to leave the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is an awful irony that many who voted to leave the European Union did so over concerns about UK Sovereignty, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and a desire to improve NHS funding by \u00a3350 million a week. This time last year<\/a> the government blocked freedom of information requests relating to legal documents regarding the NHS in the TTIP which prompted\u00a0Unite, the trade union, to instruct leading QC Michael\u00a0Bowsher. He opined that TTIP presented a \u201creal and serious risk to the NHS<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it seems that with\u00a0Brexit\u00a0we will be leaving the single market and as President Trump\u2019s administration has removed the TTIP page from the White House website<\/a> it seems a US-UK trade deal is very real and very likely to involve the NHS and its services<\/a>.\u00a0During their lunch the two leaders agreed to begin immediate talks on a trade deal<\/a> that would come into effect following Britain’s exit from the European Union.<\/p>\n

Alarmingly this deal would be potentially irreversible, as Mark\u00a0Dearn, senior trade campaigner for War on Want explains<\/a>, \u201cIf public services are combined with an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) \u201ccorporate court\u2019 mechanism in a trade deal – something both the USA and UK are very keen on – a\u00a0future attempt to\u00a0renationalise\u00a0any or all of the NHS would see US health companies suing the UK for lost profits resulting from their lost \u2018market access\u2019.”<\/p>\n

The Shadow Health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth<\/a>, frustrated by the lack of reassurance from the PM on this issue expounded \u201cIt is beyond belief that our Prime Minister is bartering away our health service in her desperation for post-Brexit\u00a0trade\u00a0deals\u2026\u2026..The\u00a0Prime Minister needs to urgently confirm that a rushed trade deal with President Trump will not be a Trojan horse for NHS privatization.\u201d\u00a0Instead the possibility of a President Trump fronted treaty that could bail out the struggling underfunded target-missing NHS in exchange for bringing profit of astronomic proportions into UK healthcare remains real. \u00a0May sidestepped the questions even at PMQs but did reaffirm that the Government remains<\/a> \u201ccommitted to an NHS that is free at point of use\u201d cleverly without defining what it may be\u00a0used\u00a0<\/em>for.<\/p>\n

Over the past week many have been quick to rubbish the idea, suggesting the floundering health service would be an unattractive prospect for Trump, but imagine it viewed through his eyes; the world\u2019s fifth\u00a0largest employer of 1.2 million employees with non-competitive salaries and almost evangelical dedication.\u00a01 million monogamous patients every 36 hours and only 30% in private hands.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the shock and awe of the new president\u2019s first week in office didn\u2019t end with the looming prospect of a rushed US-UK trade deal involving our public services. \u00a0An executive order banning nationals of seven\u00a0different countries from entering the USA was immediately enforced. \u00a0The first test of the fledgling “extra special relationship” between Trump and his \u201cMaggie\u201d passed with flying colours with an exemption for British Nationals within 24 hours<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It seems warm relations and trade deals are high on the agenda on both sides of the Atlantic but do the leaders speak for their electorate? When it comes to UK healthcare being propped up by US investment I suspect the answer is a very British \u201ccertainly not.\u201d<\/p>\n