Since the formation of the NHS 73 years ago it has undergone many changes, but the central aims of the NHS remains the same. To provide healthcare to all, free at the point of use.

The NHS is now subject to another major overhaul plan, with the Government’s latest Health and Care Bill.

The Health and Care Bill is the latest major overhaul of the NHS, in an attempt to deliver joined up care.

The main reform in the bill would mean every area of England would be covered by an Integrated Care Systems (ICS), replacing the Clinical Commissioning Groups set up in 2012, the last time there was major reform to the NHS.

This is once again an attempt to ‘level up’ across the UK. The bill also includes giving more powers to ministers and other reforms to things such as data sharing.

Under this bill the national NHS would be divided into 42 separate Integrated Care Systems, each with its own budget to provide local services.

This might seem like a good idea, but some campaigners claim this will see the acceleration of privatisation in the NHS and reduce accountability.

There are also concerns over social care. The Bill will repeal the section of the Care Act that requires councils to carry out needs assessments before a patient is discharged from hospital.

Patients could be left without access to the appropriate support when leaving hospital as a result.

Local NHS provision would be tied to a plan written by the ICS Board, open to the private sector, dragging local authorities into a financial project without real democratic accountability or public control.

Private providers will also be able to sit on local health boards, which coordinate services, if the legislation passes.

There has been a lot of attention and controversy around the process by which NHS contracts are offered recently. Mainly around those chosen to supply PPE to the NHS throughout the pandemic.

The Bill would scrap the regulations that require contracts to be put to tender. However, whilst these regulations exist now only

two per cent of contracts by value, have been let by competitive tender in recent years.

The Bill will almost certainly open the door to more controversial contracts being given out, without competition. This has already had disastrous consequences for NHS staff and patients.

Rather than making the NHS less accountable, democratic and handing contracts to private providers more interested in profit and the health of people.

We need an NHS which keeps its core values. Far too much of the NHS and social care services have been outsourced, leading to fragmented and poor services in many areas.

All NHS services which have been outsourced should be brought back under public control.

A fully integrated health system should include care homes, medical supply and pharmaceutical companies all run by an NHS, not private companies.

NHS workers should also be rewarded for putting their lives on the line on a daily basis with a decent pay rise.