This weekend, on Saturday 18th May, London residents, hospital staff, Labour Party members, and trade unionists, will be protesting in the London-wide “Defend the NHS” demonstration to save the NHS, and defend this most valuable of institutions against Tory cuts and privatisation. As Aneurin Bevan, the former Labour Minister of Health and founder of the NHS, once said, “the NHS will exist as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.”
This weekend, on Saturday 18th May, London residents, hospital staff, Labour Party members, and trade unionists, will be protesting in the London-wide “Defend the NHS” demonstration to save the NHS, and defend this most valuable of institutions against Tory cuts and privatisation. As Aneurin Bevan, the former Labour Minister of Health and founder of the NHS, once said, “the NHS will exist as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.”
One thing we can now be sure of – the NHS is not safe in the hands of this Tory-led coalition government. They may pretend that things are all OK but we know better. A recent survey by the RCN discovered that 71% of nurses think that staffing levels in hospitals are not always adequate. Over a third of those questioned felt that such levels could fairly be described as being “unsafe” on a weekly basis.
When the Francis Commission report into the state of play at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS foundation trust came out this February, it talked of a culture of “corporate self-interest” existing ahead of any thought for the well-being of patients. How many other NHS trusts deserve this description? Quite a few no doubt.
This is the result of the creeping privatisation and cuts which have caused so much damage in the last period. The NHS is under attack as never before. Where will it end? The recent statement by Professor Malcolm Grant, chairman of NHS England, the new body responsible for the day-to-day running of the service, gives the game away. In raising the idea of charging patients for care he adds: “It’s not my responsibility to introduce new charging systems but it’s something which a future government will wish to reflect [on], unless the economy has picked up sufficiently…” Given the nature of the current crisis it is clear that the official ending of free health care is now very much on the table.
We say: No return to the 1930s! Defend our NHS! Build a mass campaign to fight these attacks now. The large numbers who came out to march in defence of Lewisham and the Whittington hospitals earlier this year, together with the many thousands of Londoners who will be joining the citywide march on May 18th, show that the will is there for a fight.
Labour has given support to this protest; they should also be committing themselves to reversing all cuts and privatisations as soon as they are back in office. Such a pledge would win them huge support given the current mood. We cannot let the Tories get away with this programme of attacks on our NHS.
The “Defend London’s NHS” demo is starting from Jubilee Gardens/Belvedere Road in Waterloo from midday on Saturday 18th May. Check out the Defend London’s NHS website and Facebook page from more details.
