In writing We’re British, Innit it was hard to avoid including an entry on the National Health Service, as it is one of the largest employers in the UK (and, indeed, the world), it is a major plank of British society and its nurses provided the inspiration for many a Carry On film. So, the reforms of the NHS announced yesterday are an important turning point for Britain and the healthcare of Brits.

Ostensibly, the changes hand more control to GPs, though in effect the control passes from Primary Care Trusts to groups of GP surgeries. A massive and costly redundancy programme will see strategic planning staff and administrators set up their own businesses or be sucked up by larger businesses that will administer the process of procurement of services by GP surgeries. There is little doubt that this is an ideological move rather than a cost cutting move. The Conservative Party have always been ideologically opposed to the NHS as is. After all, the party includes the likes of Daniel Hannan, who slates the NHS at any opportunity and David Cameron has seen fit to meet with the wingnuts at Nurses For Reform, who see the market as the only solution to sorting out healthcare in the UK.

These changes will enact a process not dissimilar to a cross between rail and power company privatisation, leaving the NHS divided and vulnerable to buy outs from large corporations and overseas investors. Andrew Lansley has promised a ‘no decision about me without me approach’, but when the decisions about drugs and treatment are being made by a US healthcare giant or a business owned by a French investment bank (which can and will buy out the smaller GP consortia) then you can be sure that you will not get the treatment that your National Insurance and Income Tax has been paying for all these years.

Wherever there is a profit motive then public service has to reduce exponentially to meet the need for that profit. It is simple economics. Will those with underlying conditions find their GP spend limited upon moving to a new GP and GP consortia? And will you find those drugs that work for you unexpectedly switched for a slightly less effective generic? Not now, but maybe later. You need only look at healthcare for the poor to lower middle classes in the US for your clues. Even those who pay private health insurance are not guaranteed a decent service. That is preserved for premium customers.