Pictures from the NHS Rally – 11 March 2016

On Friday 11 March 2016 the NHS Bill went to Parliament. Before the debate we held a lively handover ceremony for the petition outside the Department of Health, with Caroline Lucas MP, alongside NHS campaigners and junior doctors.

Action then moved to a rally outside the House of Commons. Labour MPs Rachael Maskell and Grahame Morris came to show their support, and speakers from Unite, Doctors for the NHS, Keep our NHS Public and many local NHS campaign groups and junior doctors addressed the spirited crowd.

You can read what happened inside the House of Commons here, while the pictures below give a flavour of the day.

To show your support for the NHS Bill, please sign our petition. The campaign continues.

 

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NHS Campaigners outside the Dept of Health 11 March 2016

 

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Lord David Owen addressing NHS campaigners

 

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Dr Youssef El-Gingihy

 

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NHS Campaigner and NHS Rally on 11 March 2016

 

Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, Unite the Union addressing NHS Campaigners

 

NHS Bill Rally 11 March 2016

 

With thanks to photographer Brian Usher


Peter Roderick reflects on what happened to the NHS Bill in the Commons on 11 March 2016

It’s exactly one year since the cross party NHS Reinstatement Bill was tabled in the House of Commons. One year in which the initial Bill fell and was re-tabled, in which the privatisation of the NHS in England has proceeded unhindered, and in which the Labour party’s leadership has changed – many hope for the better. One year of campaigning efforts by thousands to get the majority of MPs to wake up to what is happening to the NHS and to pass a law to stop it. And the upshot of all this? 17 minutes of debate in the Commons.

After the spirited proceedings outside the Department of Health and the crowd at the rally outside the Commons, I went inside to listen to the debate. What a difference. The first thing to hit you was the emptiness. Hardly anybody there. Perhaps as many as 40 MPs, certainly fewer than 50. Oh, it’s Friday, say the Westminster cognoscenti, nobody’s there on a Friday. But what about the tens of thousands of people who have asked their MPs to be there? That made no difference to the vast majority of them.

Then there was the filibustering. The “usual suspects” on the Tory backbenches were going on and on about how we need a law to exclude foreigners convicted of crimes to be excluded from the UK. The Deputy Speaker said she couldn’t stop them talking. When they were challenged by Caroline Lucas and the SNP, they feigned offence. 4.5 hours for them, 17 minutes for us. Fair play?

Perhaps the most disappointing impression was the small number of Labour MPs who turned up – perhaps 15, certainly no more than 20 (hard to count with the comings and goings). Full marks to those who did – and to the strong showing from the SNP – but there’s a long way to go.

And finally, the most abiding impression. If enough Labour MPs had turned up, it might have been possible to stop the Tory MPs talking by putting a closure motion. When this was pointed out by Caroline Lucas, the shared smirks on the faces of silent Heidi Alexander, Labour shadow health minister, and the junior health minister Ben Gummer, gave the game way. The Tories didn’t want a proper NHS debate, neither did Labour’s health team and together they made sure it didn’t happen. Body language speaks louder than words.

Filibustering, empty benches, silence, smirks and front bench deals are contemptuous responses to tens of thousands of people. They are also counter-productive.  This second NHS Reinstatement Bill will fall. But the spirit is high and the commitment to bring a third, and a fourth, and a fifth – until a proper public NHS is restored – is stronger than ever.


The Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill backs junior doctors

The Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill backs the junior doctors.

The erosion of junior doctors terms and conditions of service and attempts by government to introduce local pay bargaining through the imposition of a national contract is part and parcel of the break up and privatisation of our NHS in England.

We encourage everyone to support the junior doctors action and ask that MPs attend the second reading of the NHS Bill on March 11th. This Bill would reinstate the NHS as a national service throughout England. Junior doctors are not striking in Scotland and Wales where the NHS is not being dismantled and privatised.

The BMA support for the junior doctors remains strong and so must its support for the reinstatement of the NHS. BMA policy is to support the NHS Bill.

 


LONDON, MANCHESTER, LEEDS, BRIGHTON and SHEFFIELD – Friday 11th March NHS Bill events

The NHS Bill is scheduled for its 2nd Reading on Friday 11th March 2016.

We will be marking the event with NHS Bill events in support  – please join us.

London

At 9.45am there will be a handover of our petition at Richmond House in Whitehall – otherwise know as the Department of Health. Caroline Lucas MP, the sponsor of the NHS Bill, will handover the petition and letters in person.

Facebook event page for 9.45am petition handover at Richmond House.

At 11am – 1pm there will be a rally outside the House of Commons. Whilst we don’t know exactly what time the Bill will be discussed inside the House of Commons – we know that we will be outside in support. Please bring your friends, your banners, and your passion for a public – not private – NHS. We hope to see you there.

Facebook event page for 11am rally outside the House of Commons.

 

Manchester

Support the NHS Bill Friday 11th March 10.45am Piccadilly Gardens Manchester.

More information here – Manchester Keep our NHS Public event page.

 

Leeds

Leeds Keep Our NHS Public is organising a ‘Hands around the Leeds General Infirmary’ in the evening of Thursday 10th March at 5-7pm. Meeting at the Brotherton Wing entrance, opposite Leeds Civic Hall, Millenium Square.

Facebook event page for ‘Hands around the LGI’.

 

Brighton

Join Sussex Defend the NHS, Brighton People’s Assembly and friends from Trades Unions and Momentum at Brighton Station to send off Caroline Lucas MP as she catches the train to London to join Jeremy Corbyn and others for the Second Reading of the NHS Bill.

 

The Save our NHS Samba Band will be performing, dancing and balloons – 07:45am Brighton Station, BN1 3XP

 

 

Sheffield

‘Taking back our NHS’ – Saturday 12th March to support the NHS Bill and to plan local and national action to protect the NHS.

More information here – Sheffield Save our NHS.

 

If you go along to any of these events, please do send us photos! Email: info@nhsbill2015.org or Tweet: @nhsbillnow


Guardian Letter – Saturday 5th March

So many people signed the letter to the Guardian for publication on 5th March, they couldn’t all fit onto the Guardian website.

Below are the hundreds of extra names.

If you’d like to support the Campaign for the NHS Bill please sign our petition before 11 March 2016, and ask your MP for their support.

And if you are in the London area, please come to the NHS Bill rallyoutside the House of Parliament at 11am on Friday 11th March 2016.

Name Role
Carol Ackroyd Secretary, Hackney Keep Our NHS Public
Dr Thomas Agombar GP
Jonathan Barnes CT1 Anaesthetics
Rowan Calloway Junior Doctor
M Campbell SpR Public Health
Brinder Chohan Doctor
Sofia Cuevas-Asturias St1 Paediatrics
Dr Patrick French Consultant Physician
Jonathan Folb Hospital Consultant
M.C.Galvin Retired consultant haematologist
Dr Jonathan Greensides Consultant Psychiatrist
Ian Hewitt Health in Your Environment (Nottm)
Rosemary Maguire MSc Social Policy, UCL
Gilda Peterson Leeds Keep Our NHS Public
G.Smith-Moorhouse Local Councillor
Seonaid Stirling ST3 Doctor
S.R.S. Szreter Professor of History and Public Policy, U of Cambridge
Carl Walker University of Brighton
Daryl Barber Concerned Citizen
Hannah Basson Specialist Podiatrist
James Beecher Stroud Against the Cuts
Dr Bernice Boss Retired Health Visitor
Christine Brookes Concerned Citizen
Mike Campbell Co-ordinator, Protect Our NHS
Steven Carne 999 Call for the NHS Acting Chair
Kenneth Cheslett Retired building surveyor
Stephanie Clarke Registration Authority Manager, NHS
Paul Cooney Huddersfield Keep our NHS Public
Claire Copple NHS staff, patient and concerned citizem
Frances Corkey-Thompson Concerned Citizen
D Croasdell Concerned citizen
Steven Culpan Tool Maker
S.M. Culpan Concerned citizen
D. Culpan Concerned citizen
Jessie Day Retired
Tom Day Retired
T.N. de Bray UK Taxpayer
Kevin Donovan Defend Our NHS
Barbara Dresner Registered Social Worker and member of Keep our NHS Public
J Ferri Retired
Maurice Neville Secretary Belper KONP Secretary Belper Labour Party
Elizabeth Gaynor Lloyd Brent Keep our NHS Publc
Paul Goulden Retired anaesthetist
Lynne Graves Nurse
Barbara Harris Full time carer
Olive Hawkins Retired
Rosemary Hedges Retired Mental Health Worker
L Hedges Care worker
Katie Hill Nurse
Ley Holloway Concerned Citizen
David Honeybell Concerned member of the public
Geof Hughes Concerned citizen and patient
Christine Hyde Chair, North Kirklees NHS Support Group
Claire Jackson-Prior Concerned Citizen
Anne Jeavons Clinical Psychologist
Daphne Jones 38 Degrees, Stroud Area
Bill Lawrence Concerned citzen and voter
Gay Lee Lambeth Keep Our NHS Public
David Lovelace Concerned citizen
Kate Lowe Pensioner
Bill MacKeith Oxon Keep our NHS Public
Judith Mallam Extremely concerned citizen
Clare McIntyre Parent, Health Visitor, Research Nurse
Jenny McKenna Retired
Jenny McMullan Concerned citizen
David Perry 38 Degrees Gloucestershire
Gilda Peterson Leeds Keep our NHS Public
M. Raybould Citizen
Jane Rendle Concerned campaigning senior citizen
 George Robinson Concerned taxpayer
Genevieve Ross Protect Children’s Community Health Partnership
Sandra Shearn Concerned citizen
Jenny Shepherd Chair, Calderdale and Kirklees 999 Call for the NHS
Neal Stote Chair of Save the Alex Campaign
Rosemary P Thorpe Concerned citizen
Lynn Tinkler Retired midwife
Abbie Wadsworth Student
D.R. Wardell Concerned citizen
Gus Fagan Oxford Keep Our NHS Public
John Drewery Benefit Officer
Simon Duffy Concerned citizen
Adam Moliver Psychiatrist
Wendy Parkin NHS Lover
John Francis Moss Domestic Assistant, Dewsbury YAS
Lorelai Prosser Concerned citizen
Annette Pearson Concerned citizen
Glynis Newsome Concerned citizen
Peter Reisdorf Liberal Democract candidate for the Wirral West constituency 2015
Nina Rose Carer
Helen Wildgust Concerned citizen
Janet Bertola Concerned citizen
Yvonne Hin Concerned citizen
Hilary Burgess Social Worker
L.S. Housman Company Secretary
Frances Taylor Concerned Pensioner
M Kennedy Concerned citizen
Lesley MacKay A patient
Paul Bunting Retired NHS Professional
Ken Kirk Brighton Keep our NHS Public
Kathleen Kieman Bailey Concerned citizen
Berni Bartola Concerned citizen
Dr Sue Adams GP
Toni De Faoite Disabled artist/concerned citizen
Joanne Sanderson Citizen
Jan Birtwell Coastal West Sussex 38 Degrees NHS Group
Vikki Smith Care Worker
Janice Smith Retired
 P Mulford Retired
David Smith Retired
G. Smith Moorhouse Local councillor
L J Briggs Business owner
Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Save our NHS Group of concerned citizens
Diana Brighouse Ex NHS Consultant and concerned citizen
Alun Jones Concerned user of NHS services
Julie Scrase Citizen
Stuart Tilbury NHS Data Manager
Lily Clough Very concerned member of the public
Jean Brant University Lecturer in Public Health
Sandra Ash  Campaigner
Alice Halliday Ex Nurse/Midwife
J. M. Hutchinson Retired Teacher and Local Government Officer
Gerry Seamam Concerned citizen
Wendy Senior Alzheimers volunteer
J Hedges Concerned citizen
Joan Bush Staff Nurse, wife, mother grandmother, concerned citizen
Raymond Tallis Emeritus Professor of Geriatric Medicine University of Manchester
Kathryn Johnson On behalf of Hackney People’s Assembly
Lucy Aphramor Dietitian
Professor Elizabeth Ettorre Professor (Emerita) of Sociology
Tasmin McGuigan  Concerned citizen
S.R.S. Szreter Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge
Mary Lyons Senior lecturer in public health
Sara Stevenson Anaesthetics trainee
Dr Iain MacLennan Consultant in Public Health & General Practitioner (retired)
Christopher Birt Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer
Marion Morris Head of health improvement
Dr Suzella Palmer Lecturer in Applied Social Studies
Dr D J Timmins Concerned citizen
Rebecca Mead Politics of Health Group
Carol Ackroyd Secretary, Hackney Keep Our NHS Public
Joy Sutherland Concerned citizen
C Mears Chair, Amber Valley Keep Our NHS Public
 David Hardiman Retired Professor
 Sheila A Taylor Concerned citizen
A McGuire Concerned citizen
Judith Varley Former academic, very concerned citizen
Colin Hutchinson Retired Consultant Ophthalmologist
M Campbell SpR Public Health
Ian Hewitt Health in Your Environment (Nottm)
Dr Alex Scott-Samuel Joint Chair, Politics of Health Group
Sally Ruane Health Policy Academic
Oxfordshire Keep Our NHS Public Campaigners to keep our NHS public
K Wyatt Junior doctor
Dr Coral Jones GP
Deirdre Malynn Patient
Leander Jones Patient
Linda Kay Pensioner
Pam Newton
Charles Newton
Gilbert Smyth Concerned citizen
Dr Melissa Baldwin CT2 Anaesthetics
Jonathan Barnes CT1 Anaesthetics
Flora Bailey Junior doctor
J Naughton Activist
Dr David McCoy Public Health Doctor and Academic
Sarah Sharp City Councillor for Chichester South
Wei-Lin Allen Anaesthetic Registrar
Ian Anderson NHS funder and user
Dr Jonathan Greensides Consultant Psychiatrist
Iona Heath Retired GP
Deborah Colvin General Practitioner
Sofia Cuevas-Asturias St1 Paediatrics London
Anna Pollert South Warwickshire Keep our NHS Public Chair/Secretary
Antony Revill Retired
Ellen Graubart
Val Bodels Concerned citizen
Rob Bodels Concerned citizen
Rowan Calloway Junior Doctor
Dr Brian Robinson Retired NHS psychiatrist
Greater Manchester Keep Our NHS Public
Dr Patrick French Consultant Physician, London
Seonaid Stirling ST3 Doctor
Andrea Franks Consultant Dermatologist
Neti Blackwell Concerned citizen and service user
G Statham
Nicole Skeltys Concerned citizen
Dr M R Bahl NHS Consultant (Retired)
Lucia D’Ambruoso Citizen
Dr. Russell Charles Aylmer Hall Core Medical Trainee, Royal Free Hospital, London
Dr Danny Turton Anaesthetics trainee
Ian F S McDonald Retired, concerned citizen
Peter Rickett Social worker
Patricia Woodcock On behalf of KONP Worcestershire
Suzanne Gannon Concerned citizen
Caro Urquhart Concerned citizen
Diana Neslen Chair of Redbridge Equality and Community Council (signing in a personal capacity).
Sue Davies Concerned citizen
Anya Leiva Neugebauer Former GP
Elizabeth Crossey Pensioner
Trevor Joyce Writer
B Davison Service User and Health Professional
Sandra Karakas Student
Peter Claydon Concerned citizen
Frances Barden Concerned citizen
Jonathan Folb Hospital Consultant
Ruth Silverman GP
Francis O’Hanlon SHO
Patricia Wootten Social worker
Karen Peters Teacher Assistant
Patricia Foley Secretary; Dewsbury KONP
Woody Caan Professorial Fellow RSPH
Paula Grainger Concerned citizen
Sam Doyle Member of the public who wants the NHS run by the government to provide best service, not owned for profit
Dave Lukes Concerned citizen
Nic Lee Social worker
Pam Wortley Retired GP
Richard Payne Senior Lecturer and UCU member
Lyn Jones Concerned citizen
Deirdre Toner Occupational therapist and UNISON member
Sheila Altes Practice Nurse
Jacqueline Murphy Concerned Citizen
Norma Ovens Nurse and concerned citizen
Darron Murphy Concerned Citizen
Megan Murphy Concerned Citizen
James Murphy Concerned Citizen
Pauline Hayes Concerned Citizen
Save Our Hospitals (Charing Cross & Hammersmith) Health Campaign Group
Jack Hanson Concerned Citizen
Julie Hotchkiss Consultant in Public Health
Pete Craine Carer
Pat Kehoe I want the NHS to remain a public service, without anybody making a profit out of sickness.
Lisa Hallgarten Health promotion expert and concerned citizen
Blaise Thompson Teacher and concerned citizen
Matthew Linares Concerned citizen
Matt Shoul Designer, Director, Tooshii Design Ltd
 T Bennett  Concerned citizen
Lauren Simpson Concerned citizen
Raina Clyne Biomedical scientist, concerned citizen
J Power Staff Nurse & very concerned
Maureen Shepherd NHS manager
Helen Vickers NHS patient
Jane Calvert Counsellor
Sue Dockett Carer of patient
Gordon Dockett Patient
Paul George Harris NHS Public Governor
Sahil Dutta Associate tutor, Sussex University
S Earnshaw Salon owner
Anna Jones Public health doctor
Samuel Hoile
Marion Pilling Educational specialist Autism
Frances Hook Chair Greenwich KONP
Eileen Smith Greenwich KONP
Mrs Jennifer Dyson Concerned Citizen
Dr Pamela Percy Concerned democrat
Gill Westcott Chair of Parish Council
Alan John Cunningham Concerned Citizen
Rose Quigley Concerned Citizen
Adrian Wilkins Healthcare IT Professional
Phil Smith Retired
Liz Gillings-Rice Very concerned citizen
Sussex Defend the NHS NHS campaigning group in Brighton and Hove
Revd Robert T Yeager Team Vicar, St George’s, Westcombe Park
Madeleine Dickens NHS campaigner in Sussex
J Harris Carer
D Harris Carer
Marie Atkinson Concerned citizen
Leo Murray Director, Monkey Do CIC
Pat McCarthy Retired & concerned citizen
Rosemary Maguire MSc Social Policy, UCL
Dr Ivo Haest Consultant Public Health Medicine
Samantha Mason Concerned citizen & trade unionist
D Baker Retired, Concerned Citizen
Jane Salvage Nursing consultant
Sarah Williams GP
Pamela Yap Director
Judy Hallgarten Very worried citizen
Jane Chapman Concerned citizen
L Necchi-Ghiri Hackney 38 Degrees #noTTIP Group
Peter English Public Health Physician
Hannah Hughes Concerned Citizen
Tom Gillings-Rice Emergency Medical technician
Lucy Holburn Concerned Citizen
Sean Robinson Writer
James Morgan Managing Director
Tricia Priestley Teacher
Ming He Junior Doctor
T.J.Davies AL, Open University
Thembi Murch Journalist academic
Melissa Gardner GP
Helen Clare Dixon Concerned citizen
M J Harper Concerned citizen
Katrina Miller NHS Campaigner; concerned and angry pensioner
Laura J Welti Concerned tax payer and user of the NHS
Sian Lattimer Very Concerned Citizen
Athene Crouch Concerned citizen
Warren Evans Teacher
Nick Dowson National Health Action Regional Coordinator, North
R Shaw I support the NHS Bill. The NHS belongs to the people.
Holly Jacks Teaching Assistant
Davy Jones Green Party
Linda Miller Very concerned citizen
Mitch Alexander Worried Citizen
Linda Game Musician and NHS supporter
Julie Gritten Yoga teacher
Ben Armstrong Unite SE/6246
Val Walsh Educationist / Writer / Concerned citizen
Clare Jones NHS worker
Frances Kay Writer/Grateful user of health service
Alison Hogg Concerned citizen
Tanya Smart Family therapist in CAMHS
Katherine Gault Concerned citizen
Donna Higgins Concerned citizen
A L Sulman Concerned citizen
Hackney Green Party
Laurence Rimington Concerned citizen
Alex Casale Concerned citizen
Greg Dropkin NHS admin worker, UNISON
Sandra Ash Campaigner
Linda Whitehead Concerned citizen
Roger Neville-Smith General practitioner
Sam Semoff Chair, Keep Our NHS Public Merseyside
Annette Thomas Islington Pensioners Forum
Pam Zinkin Islington Pensioners Forum
Peter Davis Retired teacher
Dilys Beaumont Concerned citizen / NHS patient
Jack Czauderna Sheffield Save Our NHS
David Banks Disabled Ex-NHS (NEAS)
Diana Lauder Retired nurse and concerned citizen
Patrick Moore Concerned citizen
Aileen Clarke Professor of Public Health for the Committee of the Society for Social Medicine
Elena Moses Concerned citizen
Theresa MacDermott Concerned citizen
Joe Farrag Supported Housing worker
Rebecca Saville Voter
Brinder Chohan Doctor
Sarah Alhulail GPST1
Michael Bird Legal Investigator
Laura Coglan Junior doctor
Sara Halsey Born in the NHS
Andrea English Advanced nurse practitioner
Stella Leighton Concerned citizen
Susan Green Pensioner
Dr Alexandra Pledge Paediatrician, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Patricia Roberts Carer
H King Housewife, mother, grandmother, mother-inlaw, sister-inlaw, sister
Janet Ubido Concerned citizen and public health researcher
John Broad Patient
Tom Beament Brighton and Hove Green Party
Marge Berer Advocate, author, lecturer, editor on women’s reproductive health and rights
Valerie Hargreaves Retired
Briony Adams Medical student
J. Lally Concerned citizen
H Lucero Doctor
Eileen MacDermott Retired NHS nurse
John Puntis Consultant Paediatrician
Janet Williams Member of Barnsley Save our NHS Group
Stephen Slator Concerned citizen
John Pearson Secretary Stockport United Against Austerity
Geof Hughes Concerned citizen
Jon S. Harding Concerned citizen
James Quinn Concerned citizen
Debra Burns State education worker
Mr Piers Carter Citizen and NHS supporter
Emma Friedmann Concerned citizen and FACS aware campaigner
Alan Maryon-Davis Public health doctor
Allan Harding Chartered Surveyor and concerned citizen
Heike Golightly Concerned citizen
Teresa Stolagiewicz Very concerned citizen
Julia Merchant ST6 General surgery
Marion Bramley
M Davies Doctor
Pamela Coles Community Administrator
Marianne Fernandes Concerned citizen
Val Murray NHS user
Brian Preece Member, Stockport NHS Watch
Maureen Harrison NHS FT Governor
Liz Harlow NHS Supporter
Julie Ingram A Patient
Maureen Bamford Concerned Citizen
S.P. White Retired community nurse
Laura Fulton Doctor
Janet Stoppard Concerned Citizen
G.R. Smith Concerned Citizen
Katherine Mautner Social worker/concerned citizen/parent
Sandy Broadhurst Ex Teacher concerned citizen
Eve Jackson Campaigns Officer, Mencap

 

If you’d like to support the Campaign for the NHS Bill please sign our petition before 11 March 2016, and ask your MP for their support.

And if you are in the London area, please come to the NHS Bill rallyoutside the House of Parliament at 11am on Friday 11th March 2016.


Will your MP attend the NHS Bill debate on 11 March 2016?

We need help to ensure MPs stay in London to debate the Bill on 11th March 2016, rather than going home to their constituencies.

PLEASE would you email your MP to ask them to be there on 11th March?

This is vital. Only pressure from their constituents will make MPs feel it is important enough to stay in the House of Commons on a Friday.


What to say?

We haven’t provided a standard email, as personalised emails have so much more power. The key points to raise are:

  • The National Health Service Bill 2015-2016 is scheduled for debate on Friday 11th March.
  • The aim of the Bill is to reinstate the founding vision of the NHS. There is more information on the Bill here.
  • It is vital that there are enough MPs present in the House of Commons to debate the Bill.
  • Please ask your MP to let you know whether they will attend the debate.

How to contact your MP

You can find the contact details for your MP at writetothem.com

Is it worth writing to all MPs?

The NHS Bill is a cross-party bill that has the support of some MPs from the Green Party, Labour, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats. We hope MPs from all these parties will attend the debate.

It is highly unlikely that any Conservative MPs will support this Bill. But you may still wish to write to them explaining why this Bill is important to you.

Please let us know of any replies you receive from your MP by emailing info@nhsbill2015.org

38 Degrees Petition – SUPPORT THE NHS REINSTATEMENT BILL TO BRING BACK OUR NHS

We have launched a petition calling on all MPs to attend the House of Commons on March 11th 2016 to support the NHS Bill.

Please do all you can to sign, share and support the petition.

Sign the Petition here

 

 

To: All Members of Parliament

Please attend the House of Commons on Friday 11th March 2016 for the second reading of the National Health Service Bill.

Please ensure that the Bill is debated and vote in favour of the Bill.

Why is this important?

The NHS in England is being dismantled. NHS services – including acute and emergency, children’s, elderly and maternity care – have been deliberately underfunded since 2010. The comprehensive care we’ve come to expect continues to be cut back.

Many services have been handed to private companies such as Virgin, Serco and US giant United Health, hiding behind the NHS logo. Valuable NHS buildings and land are being sold off to property developers, often as a result of the exorbitant costs of paying for new hospitals built under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

These are our services and our assets. We the public own them. And polls repeatedly show that most of us want to keep our NHS.

Privatised services cost the NHS and tax payer far more than when provided by our publicly owned and publicly run NHS.

That is because public health systems don’t seek profits. They don’t need to pay dividends to shareholders. They don’t have the added costs of private sector loans. And they don’t have to pay the management fees that private companies charge.

A public NHS also doesn’t have privatisation’s heavy marketing and contract administration costs of extra lawyers, accountants and management – at least £4.5 billion annually on one estimate and rising. Just cutting them, not NHS services, would go a long way to cover the shortfall between government underfunding and the NHS’ needs over the next 5 years.

These huge commercial costs and the chaos caused by the ongoing NHS fragmentation are the direct result of privatisation. This is endangering the quality and safety of our public healthcare.

Privatisation isn’t just bad for the tax-payer. It’s bad for our health.

That is why we need the National Health Service Bill to remove the costs and waste of privatisation. The NHS Bill will reinstate the NHS as a proper public service. It is due to get its second reading in Parliament on Friday 11th March 2016.

MPs usually return to their constituencies on Thursday nights. We need them to stay in London for Friday, March 11th, to do everything they can to make sure the Bill is debated, and to vote in favour of the Bill so that it proceeds to the next stage.

The Bill was presented to Parliament in July 2015 by Caroline Lucas MP with the cross-party support of 77 MPs. It is backed by the Green Party and the SNP, as well as by Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and other Labour MPs, one Plaid Cymru and one Liberal Democrat MP.

Please sign the Petition to show MPs that we, the public, want them to reinstate the NHS as a public service. It is their responsibility to do so.

And please write to your MP – whatever party she/he belongs to – stating your wish and urging him/her to back the Bill to bring back our NHS in England.

This Petition originates from the NHS Reinstatement Bill Group, which includes the Bill’s co-authors Professor Allyson Pollock and lawyer Peter Roderick.

 

Sign the Petition here

 


Write to your MP

Please lobby your MP to ensure the Bill is granted time in parliament for its second reading on March 11th and to support the Bill.

A suggested letter is below. The more personalised your letter the better, so please use your own words and reference your own local situation if possible.

You can find the contact details for your MP on writetothem.com

Full information on how to Take Action on the NHS Reinstatement Bill is here.


Support the NHS Bill

Dear xx,

I am concerned that over 25 years the NHS has been gradually undermined as a public service with laws brought in to allow more and more of it to be outsourced to private profit making companies.

This culminated in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It broke up the national system for needs-based health care planning in England and replaced it with a competitive market model where groups of GPs in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are obliged to put health services out to tender.

Now private companies bid against NHS providers, and increasingly win the contracts. This destabilises NHS provision and leads to a fragmented system which actually costs more to run than the previous public service system did.

Billions of pounds spent on these market ‘transaction costs’ are not available for front line care. This contributes to the NHS funding crisis: hospitals, mental health and community services find themselves in deficit with insufficient resources to provide the services we need.

It is of pressing urgency that the present costly, chaotic, fragmented and ineffective system be ended and replaced by one that will allocate resources according to need through a fair, democratically accountable and integrated planning system, removing the market and competition from the NHS.

We need our health services to be comprehensive, transparent, equitable and affordable. The only way all these goals can be attained is through full public ownership.

Such a change requires legislation to win back our NHS in England.

You may be aware that on 1 July 2015, 12 MPs from five political parties including Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas tabled the NHS Bill in the House of Commons. The NHS Bill is scheduled for its second reading on 11 March 2016.

The NHS Bill seeks to overturn all that has undermined the NHS and create a stronger, better NHS.

The NHS Bill will provide the legal framework to:

  • Restore the NHS as an accountable public service
  • Reverse 25 years of marketisation in the NHS
  • Abolish the purchaser-provider split, end contracting and re-establish public bodies and public services accountable to local communities.
  • Support integration of health with social care
  • Remove the NHS from EU competition law
  • Assert the control of the four UK legislatures over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) if it would affect the NHS in any part of the UK
  • Restore the duty of Government to provide health services across England

I urge you to support the Bill and to ensure that it is granted time in the House of Commons for its second reading on March 11th.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours etc.


Constituency Labour Parties vote ‘Yes’ for the NHS Bill

We are really pleased to hear that members of Constituency Labour Parties (also know as CLPs) have put forward motions proposing support for the NHS Bill.

The following CLPs have voted to support the NHS Bill:

  • Eltham (voted in October 2015. Unanimous support, including a vote by Clive Efford MP.)
  • Bristol East (voted in November 2015. Unanimous support.)
  • Bristol West (Voted in December 2015. 1 against and 2 abstentions.)
  • Lewisham Deptford (Voted February 2016. Nobody against and 1 absention.)

 

We hope there will be many more to follow.

Are you a member of a CLP? Here is the draft motion – provided by Keep Our NHS Public – that you could adapt and use.


‘Is that it for the NHS?’

The London Review of Books has published an article titled ‘Is that it for the NHS?’ by Peter Roderick, co-author of the NHS Reinstatement Bill.

The National Health Service in England is being dismantled. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the radio or reading the newspapers. As so often, you have to look beyond the headlines about pressures on funding and the junior doctors’ dispute to find out what’s really going on. In 1990, Kenneth Clarke introduced an internal market into the NHS, following on from the ‘options for radical reform’ set out by Oliver Letwin and John Redwood in 1988. It had three pillars: GP fund-holding (delegating budgets to individual GP practices); the replacement of health authorities by ‘NHS trusts’ (self-governing accounting centres with borrowing powers, and their own finance, human resources and PR departments) and the splitting of purchasers from providers (the planning and delivery of services was to be undertaken by separate bodies, with the money flowing between them). In its 1997 manifesto, New Labour promised to ‘end the Tory internal market’. It did get rid of GP fund-holding (only to reintroduce it later as Practice Based Commissioning), but otherwise took the Tories’ ideology even further by introducing, in 2003, the market-oriented ‘NHS foundation trusts’ and their regulator, Monitor, as well as scaling up the Private Finance Initiative. Clarke was able to say on the sixtieth birthday of the NHS in 2008 that ‘in the late 1980s I would have said it is politically impossible to do what we are now doing.’

London Review of Books, Vol. 37 No. 23 · 3 December 2015 » » Is that it for the NHS?

For the full text of the article, see the London Review of Books.

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