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Is ‘hospital at home’ a solution for the NHS?
Born from my communist social worker mother’s efforts to bridge healthcare gaps, Labour’s push for home-based care now risks becoming another avenue for the US corporate takeover of the NHS, writes RICHARD CLARKE
RELIEVING THE STRAIN: Could some version of ‘hospital at home’ help free up busy wards, or would it weaken the NHS overall?

KEIR STARMER’S announcement in January this year of a “deal between NHS and the independent sector to cut NHS waiting lists” was accompanied by Donald Trump’s declaration that any trade agreement between Britain and the US would be dependent on Britain opening its NHS to US companies.

A coincidence? Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting’s only comment was that the NHS “does not feature in any current trade negotiations with the US.”

Labour’s 2023 NHS manifesto promised to double the number of district nurses in order to expand “hospital at home” services. In power, Labour has been actively promoting initiatives aimed at providing hospital-level care in patients’ homes, freeing hospital beds, reducing unnecessary A&E admissions and promoting community-based care.

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