No Borders in the NHS: Week of Action

(Via Medact) The Hostile Environment is turning the NHS into the new frontier of border control. Join us as we take action against patient charging and demand an end to borders in the NHS!

Hostile Environment immigration policies are undermining the founding principles of the NHS. People are turned away from the healthcare they need. People are turned away from the healthcare they need. Immigration checks are becoming normalised in receptions and wards across the country. NHS hospitals routinely share patient data with the Home Office. People are harassed by debt collectors for huge bills they will never be able to pay.

Week of Action, 23 – 27 October

People all over the country will take action across five themed days:

Saturday 23rd: Remember and Resist!
We begin by remembering and honouring all those whose lives have been destroyed by racist Hostile Environment policies. October 23rd marks four years since the introduction of upfront charging for migrants in the NHS, and two years since the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found in a lorry in Essex.

Join campaign groups across London and beyond who will be holding street stalls and vigils:

London:

• 12 noon – 1pm | Lewisham Hospital A&E, SE13 | Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network and Lewisham Citizens
• 12 noon | St. Mary’s Hospital, Oxford Road (opposite Whitworth Gallery), Manchester, M13 | Greater Manchester Patients Not Passports, Manchester Keep our NHS Public, Medact Manchester, and The Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
• 12 noon | Whitechapel Underground Station | Tower Hamlets Keep Our NHS Public
• 12 noon | Dalston Farmers Market, St Paul’s Church, N16 | Hackney Patients Not Passports, Hackney Keep Our NHS Public, Akwaaba, and Feminist Fightback
• 6pm | Walthamstow Town Square, E17 | Waltham Forest Patients Not Passports, Waltham Forest Save Our NHS, and Waltham Forest Migrant Actio

Manchester:

• 12 noon | St. Mary’s Hospital, Oxford Road (opposite Whitworth Gallery), Manchester, M13 | Greater Manchester Patients Not Passports, Manchester Keep our NHS Public, Medact Manchester, and The Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Uni

Sunday 24th: Free for all Forever: No to Privatisation!

The introduction of Hostile Environment immigration policies into the NHS goes hand in hand with a wider project of privatising our healthcare system and erosion of its founding principle: that healthcare is a right and should be available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay or where you’re from.

Watch out today for an article on the impacts of the Health and Care Bill, and help us share Docs Not Cops’ video outlining what is happening to the NHS.

Monday 25th: Solidarity Knows No Borders: End the Hostile Environment

Today we stand in solidarity with everyone impacted by the Hostile Environment and the racism of border controls. From schools, to housing, to healthcare, the Hostile Environment seeks to destroy lives and undermine access to vital public services.

Today we will highlight that the immigration system is not broken – it is violent and hostile by design. We will stand with all campaigning for an end to the Hostile Environment in its entirety. More info coming soon!

There will be street stalls around the country to engage with NHS staff about the Hostile Environment and how it will impact their work, and to invite staff to get more involved in movements for migrant justice:

London:

• 7:30pm – 9pm | St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge entrance, SE1 | With Lambeth and Southwark Patients Not Passports

Sheffield:

• 4pm | Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, S10 | With Medact Sheffield, The Justice for Simba Campaign, South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group
  

Newcastle:

• 8am – 9:30am | Monday 25th Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, NE1 | With Keep Our NHS Public North East and Medact North East

Tuesday 26th – Organise To Win

The Hostile Environment seeks to turn those who  care and support the most marginalised in our society into border guards. This is what we must remember when we build our campaigns against racist immigration controls in our public services. The Department of Health will only listen when we organise in our workplaces and in our communities, to raise collective awareness about what is happening under the Hostile Environment and together refuse to be complicit in this system.

Join one of the street stalls or leafleting sessions taking place at a hospital near you!

London:

• 7:30am – 9am | St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge entrance, London SE1 | With Lambeth and Southwark Patients Not Passports.

Leeds:

• 7:30 – 9am | Leeds Infirmary, Jubilee Wing main entrance, Leeds, LS1 | With Leeds Keep Our NHS Public

Brighton:

• 7.45am and 4.45pm | Royal Sussex County Hospital, BN2
• 4.45pm | Millview Hospital, BN3
• Time TBC | Princess Royal Hospital, BR6
• Time TBC | Eastbourne District General Hospital, BN21

Wednesday 27th – No Borders In Healthcare

Today we join forces across the country to make our message clear: no borders in healthcare. The NHS must treat #PatientsNotPassports.

In Liverpool, campaigners from Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders will be out in the town centre talking to people about the impact of NHS charging and how to join the Patients Not Passports campaign:

• Midday | Liverpool Town Centre (close to Iceland on Kensington) | With Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders.

In Bristol, there’ll be a demo in the town centre calling for an end to NHS Charging and the Hostile Environment:

• 7pm – 9pm | The Sails, by Primark, Broadmead, BS1 | With Bristol Patients Not Passports and Bristol Medact

We’ll let you know how to participate online on the day! Get in touch at [email protected] to help get the message out on Wednesday morning.