Tuesday 7 December 2021

Privatisation of the NHS: Allyson Pollock at TEDxExeter

Apr 29, 2014 • This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. The 1948 Act establishing the NHS gave the Secretary of State for Health the duty to provide universal health care.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 removes this duty and introduces a market. Allyson Pollock describes why we need to worry. Allyson Pollock is Professor of Public Health Research & Policy at Queen Mary, University of London. She is one of the UK's leading medical intellectuals, and undertakes research and teaching intended to assist the realisation of the principles of social justice and public health, with a particular emphasis on health systems research, trade, and pharmaceuticals.

She trained in medicine in Scotland and became a consultant in public health. Among her previous roles she has been director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh and director of research & development at UCL Hospitals NHS Trust. She is the author of NHS plc and co-author of The New NHS: a guide.



If you believe in a public NHS, the new health and care bill should set off alarm bells: The government is easing the way for the privatisation of the health service – where is the opposition to their plans? »