Dr Patrick French

Dr Patrick French

Labour is the only party that can stop the break up and privatisation of the NHS and the Socialist Health Association has a crucial role to play in the formulation of Labour’s response to the marketization of healthcare in the UK. The SHA should be reminding Labour of its commitment to health and the NHS. But most importantly it should give the Labour Party clear advice on what a health service based on socialist principles really looks like and the practical policies required to develop and strengthen this health service. I believe that the market  has no place in the NHS and that the NHS should be both planned and delivered by the state.

As a front-line clinician working in both hospital and community settings with particular responsibility for the care of some of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in London, I feel that I would be able to make an important contribution to the work of the SHA and would enhance the credibility of its recommendations.

I have been a member of the Labour Party for over 20 years and am Chair of Highgate Ward Labour Party  in Camden.  I am a member of Holborn and St Pancras  GC and am the Health Champion of Holborn and St Pancras CLP.

I have been a doctor since 1985. After training in Liverpool I have worked in London and have been a consultant physician in central London for over 20 years. I am a member of Unite (the Medical Practitioner’s Union.)