UNITE launched a campaign yesterday to prevent blood sampling services in Kent being sold off to “profit-hungry” private companies.

The union, which has 100,000 members working in healthcare, is concerned about plans by regional NHS Trusts to outsource their pathology services to private health firms.

The campaign was launched after Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust published a memorandum of the future of their pathology service in the days before Christmas.

Among the range of options suggested by the Trust is that the service may be taken over by a commercial company.

Health workers flagged this to the union immediately, expressing concern that any potential outsourcing of the region’s blood services would impact service quality and place patients in jeopardy.

The campaign comes as all pathology services across England  consolidate into 29 networks this year, meaning that Kent will have a single pathology service provider across the region.

Unite regional officer Kathy Walters said: “The Kent public needs to be fully aware of the possibility of the pathology service being turned into a cash cow for a profit hungry private company.”