HEALTHCARE must never be privatised. That was the simple message being spelled out by dozens of protesters outside Southend Hospital, as they made their feelings known about the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill.

The controversial Bill, which arrives back for debate in Parliament today, calls for the multi-billion pound industry of the NHS to be placed in the hands of GPs.

Members of protest group Southend Against the Cuts, Unison and national campaign Keep Our NHS Public fear the move could lead to the privatisation of Britain’s health system.

Norman Traub, a consultant haematologist who worked at Southend Hospital for 16 years, is now the town’s branch secretary for Keep Our NHS Public.

He said: “There is a hidden agenda within the Government’s plans, the privatisation of the National Health Service.

“Hospitals will be run like businesses. In our eyes, we believe they will be income-driven rather than service-driven. It would create a two-tier form of healthcare for the public, because the trusts will want to go for the option which will give them more money.

“So, in other words, those who can afford the healthcare will get it, while those who are poorer will struggle. The rich will get healthier, but the poor will get sicker.”

Reforming the NHS has been at the heart of Conservative plans for years.

If the bill is approved, 151 primary care trusts, including NHS South East and South West Essex, will be abolished on April 1, 2013.

Their annual budgets of about £500million will be split into smaller segments of about £100million to £150million and handed to groups of GP practices instead.

It will be GPs’ responsibility to decide whether patients should be treated at a hospital or a private clinic and then spend the money accordingly. However, the plans were thrown into disarray earlier this year after the Government faced outcry from doctors and nurses – and a vote of no confidence in Health Secretary Andrew Lansley – over how they will work.

A revised proposal is now before Parliament. If the changes are approved this time, there will be five GP groups in south east Essex.

One group, Central Southend, will cover Southend and Shoebury and serve 68,000 patients. Enterprise, covering Rayleigh, Hullbridge, Hockley, Rochford, Ashingdon, and Great Wakering, will deal with 76,000 patients and Fortis, covering Leigh, Westcliff and west Southend, will cater for 79,000.

The largest group in Castle Point will have 83,000 patients, while health chiefs have not ruled out absorbing the smallest in Thorpe Bay, dealing with 39,000 people, into another group.

It is not yet clear how the southwest of the county will be divided, although early indications are there will be one consortium each in Basildon, Brentwood and Thurrock.

The Government claims the changes will place patients’ needs at the heart of the health system because they will be dealing directly with GPs in deciding where to be treated.

But Tim Sneller, chairman of Southend Against the Cuts, believes they are more about trying to solve the country’s massive financial crisis.

He said: “They are trying to cut margins from NHS budgets. They’re also using this opportunity to line the pockets of healthcare organisations, which will get the chance to take services away from public hands.

“This crisis has been caused by bankers being greedy.

Yet the solution to their mistakes is to to force us, the public, to pay for it by charging more taxes and cutting services.”

However, Mr Lansley said: “Claims we aim to privatise the NHS amount to nothing more than ludicrous scaremongering. We have made it crystal clear, time and again, we will never, ever, privatise the NHS.

“The reality is we’re giving more power and choice to patients over how they get treated, keeping waiting times low, and cutting bureaucracy so more cash gets to the front line.

“We will not allow these lies to block the progress we want to achieve for patients.”