Unitarians oppose NHS privatisation
At the Annual Meetings of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches held on 19-21 April 2022 in Birmingham, delegates voted in favour of a motion calling on the UK and devolved governments to make a renewed commitment to a well-funded NHS and to abandon plans and practices which divert public resources to private healthcare companies.
Chief Officer Liz Slade said: “The NHS is rightly a source of great pride for many people in Britain, and I’m glad that as a movement we are speaking out against the privatisation of our health service. My previous career was in the health sector, working with the NHS and with health systems in many other countries, and I know that while our NHS may not be perfect, the moral principles for which it stands, and the impact it has on the overall health of our society are worth protecting. While we as a movement look to create spiritual health, we know that the NHS’s role in serving people’s physical and mental health needs is essential for everyone’s overall wellbeing.”
The full text of the resolution is as follows:
“That this General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches supports a well-funded NHS, free at the point of use and considers that the increased use of the private sector in delivery of NHS healthcare, benefitting shareholders at the expense of patients, is ethically reprehensible. We therefore call on the UK Government to make a renewed commitment to a well-funded NHS free at the point of use and to abandon plans and practices which further divert public resources to private healthcare companies.”