National KONP and NHS news
NHS at 70: Free, for all, forever
The People's Assembly, Health Campaigns Together, Trades Union Congress, Unison, Unite, GMB, British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Midwives, CSP, BDA and SoR have joined forces to organise a day of Celebration and Demonstration for #OurNHS70: Free, for all, forever
Join fellow campaigners across the country in saying yes to:
- A publicly owned NHS that is free for all
- Proper funding and proper staffing
- Support for our wonderful NHS workers
- World class services for every community
Transport is being organised from around the country please head to Peoples Assembly's Facebook Event for further details.
You can also head to our Events Page to see what is happening in the run up to the 30th and beyond.
See you there!
KONP Annual Meeting
Saturday 16th June 2018 Registration 09.30
Unite Offices, 33-37 Moreland St, London, EC1V 8BB between Goswell Rd and City Rd (Angel tube, Northern Line)
Entry fee: £15 including lunch (£5 concessions)
David McCoy, professor of Health Policy at Queen University London, and Baba Aye from Public Services International have agreed to be our speakers. We will also be exhibiting MArion Malcalpine'e exhibit "How Come We Didn't Know"
Please download our 2018 AGM Agenda for running times and further information
Birthday Card Campaign
Stockport NHS Watch have come up with a fantastic way to celebrate the NHS and promote awarness of the dangers of privatisation with a Birthday Card Campaign. The idea is to write messages to or about the NHS on laminated A4 cards and circulate the images on social media in the run up to the 70th birthday celebrations on the 30th June.
Please head to their website for more information and downloadable templates
Judicial Review - 23/24 March
National KONP joined others from Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Lewisham, Plymouth, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and elsewhere in supporting JR4NHS outside the courts as their Judicial Review was heard.
Dr Allyson Pollock, one of the complainants alongside, Dr Colin Hutchinson, Professor Sue Richards and Dr Graham Winyard, gave a short interview expressing the mood of the team after the Judical Review
#JR4NHS Message from the Royal Courts from @AllysonPollock at end of this historic and important challenge to Govt on its policy to breakup the NHS forever through ACOs pic.twitter.com/luIZ4fpSIa
— TonyOSullivan (@DrTonyOSullivan) May 24, 2018
There is likely to be a 6 - 8 week wait whilst Mr Justice Green gives his judgement on the Judicial Review
The JR4NH team said:
A quick update to say that the hearing of the judicial review finished this afternoon. After hearing our argument that the ACO policy is unlawful - and NHS England's and the Secretary of State's arguments that there's no policy outside the proposed contract which is just another contract, that there's no duty of transparency in these circumstances, and that the judicial review challenge is both too early and too late - Mr Justice Green reserved judgment.
You can read more on the JR4NHS page at the CrowdJustice site and our post by Dr Tony O Sullivan.
Jon Ashworth's statement on NHS reforms
The shadow health secretary has said Labour had now rejected the possibility of working within the existing structures [of the Health and Social Care Act], calling them unfit for purpose] and saying that the party would consult in the coming months over how it could re-establish a universally public NHS.The Guardian have reported that he said that the Labour Party will examine how to banish privatisation and restore universal public NHS.
This is the first time that Labour have committed to a full restructure of the NHS if they come to power.
Of course, KONP believes that what is key to this is that legislation is needed to stabilise the NHS and stop the current and ongoing active fragmentation and disfiguring of the NHS.
Legislation will be needed to halt privatisation and contracting of clinical services, and to renationalise this public service, reuniting the parts that have been separated by government policy, and reprioritising collaboration in place of competition, and teamwork between clinical leadership and public service management.
This would all take the place of the top-down bullying that we have come to expect from Jeremy Hunt, the Department of Health and senior NHS England and NHS Improvement. We are therefore delighted with this announcement from Jon Ashworth.
NHS Recruitment Crisis
Our Press and Media Office, Samantha Wathen, has written a detailed post for our website detailing the recruitment crisis in the NHS perpetuated by the current Government's "hostile environment".
There are 100,000 vacancies in a workforce of 1.3million. Of these 35,000 nursing posts are vacant. The service is currently 10,000 doctors short across both primary and secondary care and yet foreign doctors’ offered training posts in NHS hospitals have been refused visas by the Home Office as it extends its ‘hostile environment’ with racist undertones to the NHS.
To read Samantha's full exploration of this topic please head to her article - The NHS has a recruitment crisis – heightened by the ‘hostile environment’
NHS Reinstatement Bill
The 11th July will see the NHS Reinstatement Bill tabled again, this time by MP for Wolverhampton South West Eleanor Smith. The NHS Reinstatement Bill has previously been tabled in Parliament by Caroline Lucas and, subsequently, by Margaret Greenwood.
Keep Our NHS Public Worcestershire have created a Facebook Event and you can keep up to date on any developments via the Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill website
Professor Wendy Savage wins the BMJ Healthcare Award
KONP founder member and Honorary Life President, Professor Wendy Savage, has been awarded the prestigious award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to health and healthcare in the UK’ at a ceremony held by the British Medical Journal on 10th of May. Congratulations!
You can read more about Wendy's achievement and career on our website.
Local Group News
Strike action in Wigan over SubCo
In Wigan, around 900 estates and facilities employees (including porters, switchboard operators, caterers and cleaners) face being moved to a wholly-owned firm. This prompted strike action on the 23rd May when hospital workers began a 48 hour strike.
According to Wigan todayPicket lines were being operated .. at Wigan Infirmary and Wrightington Hospital between 6am and 10pm and at Leigh Infirmary from 6am until 7pm. Protests are also taking place this afternoon (23rd May) outside the Thomas Linacre Centre.
They also interviewed some of the protestors and spoke to Joanne McClure from Beech Hill, who has more than 20 years’ experience: she said downing tools was extremely stressful.
Joanne, 38, said: “The plan is about saving money so it is a big risk to us, and what happens if the new company goes bust? It’s a risk we don’t want to have to take. “I’ve never been in this situation before and it’s nerve-racking to be going on strike. But we are all determined and staff are being very supportive of one another. “If we don’t stop this plan what happens next? Other NHS staff might be outsourced. We want there to be an NHS in another 70 years and so we are fighting for our jobs and to defend the NHS.”
KONP fully supports this strike and that the workers are standing up to SubCos
For more information on this story you can head to Wigan Today.
For more information on SubCos and their threat to the NHS, Caroline Molloy has written a great article for the Open Democarcy website. Read that here
Upcoming Events
Oxford march for our NHS
Called by Oxfordshire UNISON and UNITE health branches and supported by Oxford Keep Our NHS Public
Saturday 9th June 2018, 11am
Manzil Green, Cowley Road, East Oxford, OX4 1XA
● End the staffing crisis - pay Oxford weighting - bring back bursaries ● Full funding for the NHS - reopen the closed beds ●No more cancelled operations ●No to longer waiting times ● Stop privatisation - patients before profits
NHS 70th Anniversary Celebration and Protest #ourNHS70
Jointly called by TUC, Health Campaigns Together, People's Assembly
Saturday 30 June 2018, 12pm
Assemble: Portland Place, London WC1A 1AA
#ourNHS is a loved and cherished part of every community. Come out and celebrate with us on 30th June. Bring your family, your friends, your loved ones and anyone who cares about the future of the NHS - under real threat and great pressure from 8 years of underfunding and a drive to privatisation.
More details on the #ourNHS70 leafletbelow and via the Health Campaigns Together website
Wales Save the NHS Rally 'Shout it from the Mountains'
Saturday 30 June 2018, 7am - 3pm
Snowdon SY20 9 Llanberis
For all Health Campaigners based in Wales who cannot join us in London on the 30th. You can join some fellow NHS supporters at the top of Snowdon to sing and shout to save our NHS. This event will run concurrently with a the London #OurNHS70 event, to mark 70 years since the NHS was created.
Make your own way to the summit, by train [yes, train!] or on foot. Meet at 12 noon on the summit and make some noise! They also hope to live-stream the event to LONDON!
If you want to share the journey then you can get to the Pen-Y-Pass car park at 7am, if you need to park here, as this car park will be FULL by 8am! Other options are about 1 mile down the road and will also fill up fast! Everyone will then set off from Pen-Y-Pass car park at around 7.45am together, with SAVE OUR NHS flags in hand!
You can head to the Facebook Page for more information
Save Liverpool Women's Hospital Campaign march
22nd September 2018,
Assemble: Liverpool Women's Hospital marching to Albert Dock
Please see this leaflet from Save Liverpool Women's Hospital Campaign.
You can also visit their website or Facebook Page for more information on the campaigning work they do.
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