Reply #3: A good blog pointing out how Southern Cross shows the dangers of such private ownership

[muriel_volestrangler]

Cut to the Guardian, where three days ago Circle’s CEO, ex-Goldman Sachs banker Ali Parsa set out his view that the NHS is “an unsustainable industry” that costs too much to run.
...
It gets even more complex when you realise the Foster-designed hospital in Bath, which Cavendish so praised, is leased from Health Properties (Bath), a company on whose board Lehman Brothers have 50 per cent representation. That’s the same Lehman Brothers that went into administration in 2008. Health Properties (Bath), the hospital’s landlord, is also part-owned by the Jersey arm of Circle and by Health Estates Fund.

“The investors in this fund are un-connected wealthy individuals who have chosen to invest their money in the fabric of UK hospitals,” says Circle.

All this comes at a time when Britain’s largest care home operator, Southern Cross, is struggling to survive. It’s a debacle that has arguably come about because private equity and other funds chose to invest in the fabric of UK residential care homes.

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/11/10/should-we-be-wary-of-private-companies%E2%80%99-involvement-in-healthcare/

Except that whole hospitals will have to be declared Too Important To Fail, so when the bankers have driven it into bankruptcy through some new wheeze, they'll get bailed out. At the worst, their offshore tax-avoidance companies will be shut down, and they'll have to pay the fee to set up new ones, and move on to the next victim investment opportunity in UK hospitals.

Also, the NHS is widely recognised as the cheapest, and best value, health system amongst its peers. Anyone saying it's 'unsustainable' and 'costs too much to run' is just lying.