A TAVISTOCK campaign group has launched a petition calling for community health services to be kept within the NHS.

The local branch of the Keep our NHS Public (KNOP) is campaigning to the North, East and West Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is currently consulting on the future of community health services prior to a procurement process later this year.

The consultation covers a wide range of services provided by the NHS on which it spends £180-million each year including community hospitals, community nurses and podiatry.

Martin Quinn from the KNOP Tavistock group said that while it was commendable that the CCG was involving the public in shaping plans for these services, it had not been made explicit in this exercise that it might result in the privatisation of these vital NHS services.

'The companies that typically win these contracts are experts in marketing their services to CCGs but their record of patient care has been dire,' he said.

'Services like Tavistock Community Hospital are in danger of being privatised and local people are completely unaware of this and it's the same around the county.'

He said Baroness Barbara Young at Diabetes UK had highlighted how, as a result of privatisation of NHS services, care was fragmenting, breaking the diabetic care pathways by 'outsourcing their many different services' and risking amputated feet if inexperienced commercial clinics treated them with no knowledge of their history.

Kevin Eady from the group said: 'Nationally 200 new contracts, worth billions of taxpayers' pounds, are in the pipeline. Contracts awarded since April 2013 show 84% have gone to the private sector and only 16% to the NHS.'

Mr Eady is urging everyone who wants community health services in Devon to be provided by an NHS body and delivered by NHS staff to add their name to the petition at: http://tinyurl.com/lgtulxv">http://tinyurl.com/lgtulxv

Jerry Clough, managing director of the Western locality of Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: 'We are working closely with patients, carers, clinicians, councillors and members of the public in shaping plans for future community healthcare services. 

'The discussion held in Tavistock in November was designed to gather views about what is most important to local people to help develop community services which have quality for patients and carers at the centre.'

He said at the event a great deal of ideas were heard about what is good about services now and what would make them even better in the future.

'We are pleased that the 'Keep our NHS public' group supports our approach in making sure local people are fully involved in future healthcare developments in Tavistock. 

'We noted all points raised during the event, including those reflected in the group's petition.

'We are not yet at the stage of deciding how the services will be provided, but we will keep people involved and informed as we continue this work over the coming months.'