THE NHS matters to all Unite members. We take free, publicly provided healthcare for granted — we pay tax and the government provides a universal health service. 

We rely on the NHS, for ourselves and our families. We expect everyone to be treated equally, regardless of how much money they have. We don’t pay to see a doctor or go to the hospital. 

If we have a problem, we get treated. We don’t worry about whether we can afford it or whether the nurses, doctors or consultants are doing anything other than trying to make us better. 

This is changing and fast. Our NHS is under attack like never before. This government has an agenda — cuts, privatisation and making patients pay for treatment. 

Soon the size of your wallet could determine the treatment you get. 

It is not exaggerating to say that if we do nothing, in 10 years our health service in England will be like the energy market — expensive, profit-driven and in the grip of a handful of private companies and their shareholders. 

Already government cuts are biting. Over 7,000 NHS clinical staff have been made redundant and more than half of the maternity units in the UK are being forced to put lives at risk due to inadequate cover. 

But it is the NHS sell-off, driven by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, that is changing the face of our health service forever. 

Wholesale privatisation beckons, with over 70 per cent of contracts for NHS services being won by private companies and the first NHS hospital being privatised at Hinchingbrooke. 

Unsurprisingly, private companies driven by the profit motive have not all delivered services in the interest of patients. 

Harmoni, which was awarded the contract to operate the NHS urgent advice telephone service 111, has been heavily criticised and reports suggested at least three people may have died due to flaws with the service. 

Serco was bailed out of a contract for supplying out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall following sustained criticism, failure to meet national standards and accusations of falsifying data. 

With a further £20 billion contract bonanza predicted, it is perhaps unsurprising that private interests are busy buying political favour. 

Six Cabinet ministers, 17 other government ministers, the current Health Secretary and two former health secretaries — as well as dozens of MPs and lords — all have financial links to private healthcare. They can all vote on health legislation — breath-taking. 

The influence of private companies does not stop there. The new head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, was executive vice-president of giant US healthcare company UnitedHealth, which has been awarded contracts with the NHS. 

The head of NHS competition enforcer Monitor, David Bennett, is a former partner of management consultancy McKinsey, a company with NHS contracts. There are many more besides. 

Private companies are also using their power to influence international trade agreements. 

US healthcare corporations, including UnitedHealth, want the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to include public healthcare and make it impossible for any future government to roll back privatisation of the NHS.

A movement for change is required and our union is best placed to deliver. Our team of 100 trained organisers will use their expertise to help mobilise people and expose what is happening to our NHS. 

We will make decision-makers accountable and campaign to prevent privatisation or cuts to local services. 

We have already made our mark, joining with local campaigners to help save the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton from privatisation. 

Now, in London, we are supporting our GP members working at the Jubilee Street practice in Tower Hamlets, who are fighting cuts and the closure of one of the top-ranked surgeries in the country. 

But we can’t do it on our own — to win, we need you, from bus drivers to airport workers, to cleaners in the City of London. 

This is a fight for us all and one that we can’t afford to lose. We will contact our activists whenever there is a relevant local campaign, so please join with us and together let’s stand up for our NHS.

Sharon Graham is Unite executive officer.