Press conference in Ottawa on Friday: New academic reports show failures of England’s privatization of hospital surgeries, offer lessons for Ontario

The Ontario Health Coalition will provide updates on access to surgeries in Ottawa

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the early 2000s, the Labour government in England began contracting out hospital surgeries to for-profit facilities with the stated policy objective of reducing wait-times.

However, two decades of privatization led to increasing inequalities, longer wait-times, and reduction in capacity in the public system, according to research by Allyson Pollock, professor emerita at Newcastle University.

These reports offer lessons for Ontario, which is comparatively in the initial stages of its hospital privatization plan and has used the same rationale to contract out cataract, hip, and knee surgeries.

On Friday at 1:30 p.m., Pollock will be joined by OCHU-CUPE president Michael Hurley and Ontario Health Coalition executive director to reveal detailed findings of these academic studies and their relevance to Ontario at a press conference in Ottawa.

The Ontario Health Coalition will also be providing an update about access to surgeries through public and private options in Ottawa, including information on unethical practices of for-profit clinics in the city.

Who:	Allyson Pollock, professor emerita at Newcastle University
	Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition
	Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE
What:	Media conference to release new reports on hospital privatization in England
Where:	McNabb Recreation Centre - 180 Percy St, Ottawa, ON
When:	1:30 p.m. on Friday, November 14

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