One NHS trust has a flashy plan to address hospital overcrowding. Barts health NHS trust is set to use Uber to transport non-emergency patients back and forth from its five London hospitals.

The plan is a partnership with Cera, a smartphone app used to coordinate a patient’s care, book drivers, and keep relatives informed. Cera co-founder Ben Maruthappu says the endeavor will “radically integrate care and transport through technology.” But it’s not so simple when the plan relies on a taxi app with a track record of worker exploitation and tax dodging.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis warned that “the government must also ensure that all companies that win care contracts don’t exploit staff and pay at the very least the minimum wage.” It’s clear that Uber doesn’t meet that standard -- which means the NHS needs to stand with workers and find a transport service that treats drivers fairly.

Tell NHS not to enable Uber’s worker exploitation and tax dodging, and find another transport service.

Uber has a long, troubled history of mistreating workers. Just last October, a landmark employment tribunal ruled that Uber had misclassified tens of thousands of UK workers as “self-employed” to avoid paying benefits and employer national insurance contributions.

Meanwhile, the taxi app has racked up an impressive file of lawsuits over tax avoidance. That includes a lawsuit from a leading UK tax lawyer who alleges that Uber has dodged up to £20m in value-added tax in 2015 alone.

Bringing more patients flexible, quality health services is great. But it can’t come at the expense of workers, or enable tax dodgers like Uber that threaten the government’s ability to fund health services in the first place. That’s why we need to come together now to tell the NHS to cut Uber out of the deal and find a transport service patients -- and workers -- can trust.