[Thursday 10 March]
Parliament is about to get its only chance to allow Caroline Lucas’s NHS Bill – backed by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn when it was tabled before Parliament last year – a fair hearing tomorrow, Friday, 11 March, as it gets its second reading: and NHS campaigns are organising a day of action to mark the occasion.
Although not likely to become law in the current Parliament, the NHS Bill represents the only chance to restore the NHS to its founding principles and prevent its further fragmentation, as parts of it that can make a profit are sold off to an increasing number of private health companies.
NHS campaign groups are planning a day of action, including:
- 09.45: Petition at Richmond House, Whitehall
- 11.00-13.30: Rally outside Parliament
- Press call: 11.30, Parliament Square. Contact Alan Taman
Local groups are organising similar events in other parts of the country.
Those taking part include the Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill, Keep Our NHS Public, Doctors for the NHS, and 999 Call for the NHS.
Professor Allyson Pollock is one of the Bill’s original authors and has been campaigning for years to stop the privatisation which is breaking up the NHS, by making the NHS Bill law:
“The Junior doctors are striking to stop the government imposing a contract which will undermine their terms and conditions of service. The junior doctors’ struggle is not just about pay, it is a struggle for the NHS. The assault on the terms and conditions of junior doctors is part of a wider assault on the NHS, which is being dismantled. The BMA supports the junior doctors and the BMA supports the NHS Bill which will reinstate the NHS.
“It is essential that all MPs attend the second reading of the Bill this Friday and support the Bill which would bring back our NHS”
Contacts for 11 March
Dr Tony O’Sullivan (Keep Our NHS Public): [email protected] 07960312725
Press – Alan Taman (Keep Our NHS Public): [email protected]
07870 757 309
[Ends]
Editors’ Notes
Policy and legal briefing on the NHS Bill: http://www.allysonpollock.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_NHSBill_LegalPolicyBriefing_03Mar16.pdf
Keep Our NHS Public was formed in 2005 and has a broad-based, public membership. There are 46 local groups, plus a national association. It has the explicit aim of countering marketisation [1,2] and privatisation of the NHS by campaigning for a publicly funded, publicly provided and publicly accountable NHS, available to all on the basis of clinical need. It is opposed to cuts in service which run counter to these principles. Further details: www.keepournhspublic.com
KONP’s Campaigns and Press Officer is Alan Taman:
07870 757 309
Twitter: https://twitter.com/keepnhspublic
Facebook: Keep-Our-NHS-Public
[1] Davis, J., Lister, J. and Wrigely, D. (2015) NHS For Sale. London: Merlin Press.
Leys, C. and Player, S. (2011) The Plot Against the NHS. Pontypool: Merlin
Lister, J. (2008) The NHS After 60: For Patients or Profits? London: Middlesex University Press
Owen, D. (2014) The Health of the Nation: The NHS in Peril. York: Methuen, Chapter 4.
Player, S. (2013) ‘Ready for market’. In NHS SOS ed by Davis, J. and Tallis, R. London: Oneworld, pp.38-61.
[2] The belief that ‘competition is always best’ does not work when applied to healthcare. A comprehensive and universal health service is best funded by public donation, which has been shown to be far more efficient overall than private-insurance healthcare models
[Davis, J., Lister, J. and Wrigley, D. (2015) NHS For Sale. London: Merlin Press. Chapters 2 and 8.
Lister, J. (2013) Health Policy Reform: global health versus private profit. Libri: Faringdon.
Pollock, A. and Price, D. (2013) In NHS SOS, ed by Davis, J. and Tallis, R. Oneworld: London, 174.]
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