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Privatisation is demoralising the NHS workforce and undermining standards of care. It’s time for Ministers to listen to the NHS workers and managers and end the outsourcing and privatisation of our NHS.

GMB has long campaigned to repeal controversial Section 75 and reverse the tide of health service privatisation and outsourcing.

As part of our Go Public campaign we're also calling for the full repeal of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and campaigning to restore our NHS to Nye Bevan's principles. You can find out more about our Go Public campaign here.

What is Section 75?

Section 75 is the part of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act that came into effect on 1 April 2013 that allows for the privatisation of NHS services.

Section 75 forces commissioners to put out to tender anything that could be provided by an organisation other than our NHS. Private contractors are far more likely to win these tenders.

In combination with the public contracts regulations of 2015, Section 75 of requires clinical commissioning groups in England – which hold the NHS budget locally – to put any contract for care worth more than £615,278 over its lifetime out to tender. This has led to a significant expansion in the amount of care provided by private firms such as Virgin Care and Care UK.

We're now calling on Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to repeal key parts of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act and public contracts rules.

We urge Ministers to take forward the new NHS England proposal, which would see large parts of the damaging shake-up undertaken by the Coalition Government unwound and dismantled.

But now we need your help, if you support our campaign to scrap Section 75 and reverse the tide of NHS privatisation and outsourcing then please add your name to this letter to Matt Hancock:

Letter to Matt Hancock

Dear Matt Hancock,

I'm writing to you to ask that you listen to NHS Bosses, the GMB Union as well as many others in calling you to take the opportunity to reverse the tide of privatisation in our NHS introduced by the coalition government.

Section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 along with more recent public contracts rules that requires compulsory tendering to the private sector are having a deep and damaging impact on our NHS. Privatisation is demoralising the NHS workforce and undermining standards of care.

We ask you to listen to NHS workers and managers and end the outsourcing and privatisation of our NHS.

This is your opportunity to push back the tide of unpopular privatisation, where you can ensure the focus of our health service is on the patients who require care - not the the pockets of shareholders.

I'm proud to be supporting the GMB Union campaign calling for you to scrap the controversial Section 75 and reverse the tide of health service privatisation and outsourcing.

Please listen to us and take this opportunity to make a real difference to our NHS.

Yours sincerely,

[SIGNATORY]

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We're calling on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to scrap section 75