It's the National Health Shareholder Service

Tory voters must be so relieved. It has taken a while and a few false starts, but finally the Conservatives have reverted to type and we know exactly where they stand - shoulder to well-tailored shoulder with big business.

All those expensive lobbying jollies, the lunches, dinners, trips to Wimbledon, donations to the party, office running costs, staffing, consultants and the rest have to be paid for somehow and we are starting to see now just how.

The ramshackle plans for the NHS (why does every Government have to have at least half a dozen goes at screwing the NHS as much as they can before being booted out of office) can no be seen for what they are - a forerunner to soften everything up for privatisation.

For this who have missed it Circle Healthcare have done a deal to run the financially strapped Hinchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire which is lumbered with PFI schemes and various private treatment contracts it had to sign.

Circle Healthcare is hardly an expert in the field of healthcare - in reality it is on offshore outfit bankrolled by a hedge fund and was founded by Ali Parsa who learned everything he knows about patient care and medicine as a former Goldman Sachs executive - that's the bank that takes a fair share of the blame for the current world financial meltdown.

The 10-year deal is worth a reported £1 billion - more if they can avoid treating too many patients.

With the likely lax regulation - this is a Government and system that had no border controls all summer and which let the financial services sector run riot under it's noses - we will see huge profits and shareholders being put ahead of patients. If by chance there is a loss, then the taxpayer will pick up the bill and no doubt pay compensation.

Treatments will be a balance between what is cheapest and most profitable and balance sheets will be much more important than mortality rates. Labour started the rot opening the door to the medical carpetbaggers and the Tories have put up the for sale signs.

Once public services and utilities are run for the benefit of shareholders and profit then customers are the last thing to be considered.