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60,000 sign Staffordshire cancer care petition to stop 'backdoor privatisation'

Almost 60,000 people in just a week have signed a new petition to stop the 'backdoor privatisation' of cancer care in Staffordshire.

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National online campaign group 38 Degrees has thrown its weight behind Cancer Not For Profit's fight against the attempt by Staffordshire's four Clinical Commissioning Groups, including Cannock and Stafford, to contract out both cancer and end-of-live services.

Last year, Cancer Not For Profit handed a local petition containing more than 8,000 names to Staffordshire County Council opposing the £1.2 billion move. Names are still being gathered and the list today stands at 15,000.

The new petition was launched after the so-called leak on the Open Democracy website two weeks ago of documents which indicated that core services such as surgery and chemotherapy would be privatised under the CCG plans.

A statement on the 38 Degrees site says: "This contract is an untried, untested 10-year-long experiment and we can't let this happen. If our CCGs don't pull out of this deal, our money will be profiting shareholders rather than improving care."

More than 59,000 have signed the online petition.

Welcoming the move, Alex Fraser, of the Cancer Not For Profit group, said: "We're very happy for their support because they have a huge reach and a massive membership.

"We appreciate their support in spreading the word about this attempted backdoor privatisation and raising the profile for this campaign on social media."

Cancer Not For Profit is calling on the public to join the fight back as signs of 'creeping privatisation' across the region increase after the announcement that Virgin Care have secured a seven-year contract from East Staffordshire CCG for elderly person care.

The contract is the biggest potential privatisation in NHS history with five private companies going head-to-head with two hospital trusts for control of care for 800,000 people across Staffordshire and three million potential patients from neighbouring counties.

Negotiations with firms, mainly American, for the provision of cancer services has just started.

Gail Gregory, of Cancer Not For Profit, said: "There's a lot of evidence that privatization does more harm than good. We've seen Spire Healthcare botching breast cancer operations, Atos Healthcare pulling out of its contract in Tower Hamlets because it wasn't making enough money andHinchingbrooke Hospital being handed back to the NHS because Circle Healthcare didn't make enough money, the list goes on.

"Everywhere you look there are privatized healthcare contracts going belly-up and it's creeping across the country."

Andrew Donald, chief officer for Cannock and Stafford CCGs, said: "There are currently over 60 different organisations responsible for delivering cancer and end of life care in Staffordshire with no overall responsibility for making sure they work together in the best interests of the patient.

"Patients, carers, and health and social care professionals have told us the current system is not joined up. This can lead to poor care with patients getting lost in a system that creates unnecessary duplication and waste.

"The programme will appoint two lead organisations, one for cancer care and the other for end of life care, to ensure care is co-ordinated and will not provide these services directly."

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