On 3 September a group of mums from Darlington arrived in Bedford.
Nothing unique about that you might think. Except these women & their supporters had walked all the way from the North East of England. And they were welcomed to Bedford by shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham. And they were waved off to Luton by Natalie Bennett, the leader of The Green Party.
The ‘Darlo Mums‘ had recreated the 1936 Jarrow March, arriving in Westminster on Saturday 6 September. They covered 300 miles, were joined by 1000s of supporters along the way and did it all with the aim to save the NHS from privatisation.
We believe we have to go beyond political ideology and aligning our cause to one party or another. Our one aim is to save the National Health Service from the greed & corruption of private companies who wish to sacrifice one of the greatest institutions of our country, recognised globally as the most cost-effective and efficient health services in the world. United together we can create a voice too strong to ignore. We can and will end the deceitful selling off of our most precious NHS.
www.999callfornhs.org.uk
It’s your NHS. It’s our NHS. And its privatisation is making people so angry that they are willing to walk the length of the country to shout about it.
Here in Bedford we are acutely aware of the coalition’s health policy. Our hospital is currently under grave threat & there is a very real chance that our A&E department will close, we’ll lose our maternity department, as well as many other essential services. That will mean a 45 minute journey to the nearest hospitals in Luton or Milton Keynes. If the thought of that makes you at least a tiny bit livid, then you need to do something about it.
But what can we, the people, do?
It’s time to stand up for our NHS – now!
Swingeing government cuts are inevitable (we’re told) in these austere times. Of course, there’s always enough to go round when an unjustified war needs waging, or banks need bailing out…
But the National Health Service MUST put patients before profit. It cannot work as a privatised model. It needs to outlive this coalition government, receive adequate investment and once again become the absolute pride of Britain. Under the Health and Social Care Act, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt no longer has responsibility for running the NHS (I KNOW! – Ed). That responsibility has been handed to NHS England and they in turn hand the responsibility down the food chain to Clinical Commissioning Groups. This localisation of budgets deflects the blame for decisions from central government (today’s strike action over midwifes’ pay is a prime expample). The Clinical Commissioning Groups cannot over-spend their budgets so compromises are made. It’s simple economics.
We marched part of the Bedford – Luton leg with Dr Nik Johnson*, consultant paediatrician at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, supporter of Bedford Hospital and Labour candidate for Huntingdon to find out how you & I can you help Bedford Hospital (& save the NHS in the process):
– sign the Mayor’s petition. 10,000 people have already made their voices heard & children’s emergency services have been reinstated as a result. The downgrade of Bedford Hospital is still a very real possibility, so let’s make our views heard.
– Join your GP surgery or hospital patient forums. Healthcare providers need to take patients’ views into consideration. By getting as many energetic, engaged, motivated people on these boards we can raise concerns at the highest level.
– Mobilise your friends and family to write to their councillors and MPs to challenge decisions made about the NHS. Where tendering processes are on-going, people-power demanding NHS providers rather than external private healthcare providers has been successful. Richard Fuller MP’s contact details are here. You can find your local councillor here.
– Join FB groups. 38 Degrees & the National Health Action Party have FB & twitter feeds, constantly updated with their latest campaigns. These are apolitical groups with no affiliation to any political parties.
– Register to vote. There is a general election next year. Both Labour and the Green Party have enshrined the safety of the NHS within their policies. UKIP believes as passionately about privatising the NHS as it does about leaving the EU & stopping immigrants settling here. And they feel prrrrretty strongly about those two things.
– Take to the streets. Why not? I can feel revolution in the air…
*It was a bit difficult to take notes while we were marching, so we spoke on the phone afterwards too.
Many thanks to the wonderful Hazera Forth for the use of her photographs.
