"This leaked draft has done nothing to dispel worries about the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on our NHS," McKelvie said in a statement. "It appears TTIP still poses a risk to our health service – despite claims to the contrary from UK ministers," she added.
On Thursday, BBC Scotland obtained a leaked copy of the proposed new trade deal which describes itself as the EU's "initial offer". Although the paper aims to give the EU powers to exempt EU member nations’ health services from the deal it would allow, according to Pat Rafferty of the Unite trade union, US health corporations to sue the government if ministers ever sought to renationalize services already privatized but operating within the NHS.
"This means that American investors in NHS services that are privatised now or in the future will be able to use TTIP to sue the government if it tries to bring them back into public hands," Unite told the BBC.
The Scottish Government, which has responsibility for NHS services in Scotland, has already said it "strongly opposes" the inclusion of public services within the scope of the EU-American deal.
The TTIP is a deal currently negotiated by the European Union and the United States which aims at eliminating trade barriers in a number of economic sectors to facilitate trade between the two regions.
