By 27/01/2018 0 Comments

NHS in Crisis: Leicester Campaigners Aim to Fix it Now!

Earlier today, Leicester Socialist Party hosted a determined public meeting to discuss how to build a fight-back against the escalating attacks upon our National Health Service.

Addressing the gathering of around 40 people, the chair of the Save Glenfield Heart Unit campaign, Steve Score, emphasized the importance of “taking the momentum from the successful Glenfield campaign into the ongoing battle to save the NHS.”

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Local health expert Dr Sally Ruane, who is a leading member of the Leicester Campaign Against NHS Privatization, outlined the dire problems facing local health services. “Anyone working in a hospital these days,” Dr Ruane pointed out, “will tell you it is winter all year long; all the time there is pressure.”

Tom Hunt, a nurse and Socialist Party member from the inspiring Save Chatsworth health campaign, explained how he and his fellow workers had built a successful campaign to keep their neurological rehabilitation ward open in Chatsworth, Mansfield.

A number of people in the audience also recounted their personal experiences with the NHS, and reaffirmed their commitment to building another mass campaign to save the entire health service from the Government and their vulture-like corporate friends.

Although she passed no comment at the meeting, the chair of Leicester City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission, Elly Cutkelvin, was present throughout. This was a welcome visit from such a powerful individual in Leicester’s Labour Party.

One can only hope that Councillor Cutkelvin learns the correct lesson from the Glenfield campaign, and moves to reject the Tories destructive Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP’s), and publicly oppose ongoing efforts by our weak and crumbling Government to ram through their privatisation agenda through so-called Accountable Care Organisations.

Although he was not in attendance, it was good news to hear that Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) has begun to work more closely with activists from Health Campaigns Together (the campaign that organised the quarter million strong march through London last year).

But health campaigners expect a lot more from Labour. If the Shadow Health Secretary really wanted to show his commitment to opposing the privatisation of our NHS he could easily do so by throwing his support behind the critically important NHS Reinstatement Bill – something which, lamentably, he has not yet done.

People power it seems is the only thing that can guarantee the future of our health services. Only through united action can we bring down our current shambolic Government and force the Labour Party to adopt the type of socialist policies that can truly save our NHS.

Hence, the public meeting resolved to back the forthcoming national day of action to save the NHS which has been earmarked for next weekend (Saturday, February 3rd). Here in Leicester, campaigners will be gathering outside the Leicester Royal Infirmary (on Infirmary Square) between 11am and 12.30pm to protest together in opposition to the Tory attacks upon to our health service.

Spread the word, https://www.facebook.com/events/322219814934268/  and hopefully we will see you there!

NHS leaflet Feb 3 2018

 

 

Posted in: Leicester, NHS

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