NHS bill, even the doctors are against!

Another blow to the good ship coalition came today when doctors called on the government to put a halt to its overhaul of the NHS in England, but have stopped short of opposing the plans outright. Instead, an emergency meeting of the British Medical Association urged ministers to withdraw the health bill so the plans could be looked at again. So much for the coalition boast that doctors are behind the plans.

It seems with this, opposition to the NHS bill is rising. It also begs the question about why these plans didnt first have a consultation instead of being rushed through on the hoof, on a whim as this now shows. Is this yet another signal of arrogance fueled by a dogmatic anti-state ideology? Everyone across the land, I urge you to fight these plans, my honourable members I urge you to fight. Bevan set up the NHS to care for all, no matter a persons wealth. It embodies what is great about our society and it is every Englishman’s duty to oppose this assault on our NHS which will lead to privitisation. Sign the petition, http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/Protect_our_NHS_Petition , speak to your MP and lets hope together we can save the NHS like we saved the forests. We are many and they are few, we must fight for our NHS!!!

Wake up,

We must awaken to their nefarious plan,

Behind false promises, they hide what they can,

To our lifeline, to the mother that has suckled all they hack,

To supplant her, to the breast that has cared for generations they hack!

Stand up,

We must expose their dark agenda in the blazing light of day,

We must speak out, we must stand up for Mother NHS,

We must fight for her today!

 

Clegg- how things change! Protests at the LD conf!

How things change eh? This is probably the feeling Nick Clegg is facing with the massive protests that prompt his retreat behind the RING of STEEL replacing the adulation before the election. I wonder if he remembers this video he filmed- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTLR8R9JXz4 , where he promised ’no more broken promises’ only to break this promise and about every other promise he made, such as on tuition fees, the list really does go on as we know. Well if he did forget, I’m sure the 5000 protestors would have reminded him.

As a defiant statement to attempt to shrug this off, Clegg has told his party that “You can’t do everything when you are in power, but you can’t do anything when you are not. With power comes protest. We need to get used to it.” Yes Mr Clegg you cant do everything whilst in power but to completely abandon your principles and to betray the students who you so cynically targetted with your job is’nt just one of those things. It is a shameful betrayal.

At the conference, a vote held by delegates sent a message to the Conservatives that that many Lib Dems are opposed to market reform of the health service, any fragmentation or destabilisation of NHS services by new private providers or the lack of accountability for the spending of public money envisaged in the model of GP commissioning promoted in the government’s health bill.

So where does this leave the coalition then? Possibly not in a different position than before I think, however discontent from the public remains at fever pitch, and with many of their members seeming to disagree profoundly with the government, it will be choppy waters ahead for the good ship coalition. So where does this leave us? We should not rest on our laurels on this, as a woman I spoke to on the doorstep stated to me that whilst Clegg and Cameron are instant turn offs for many voters, Labour still needs to fight for every vote, to give people a real and hopeful alternative and many do not seem to have seen this as of yet. We still need to fight and fight hard for what we believe in like the NHs which is under threat. Many have signed this petition on 38 degrees calling for the Gov to rethink its plans for the NHS, and I urge you who read this also to sign to send a message- http://www.38degrees.org.uk/Save-our-NHS . Only together can we send a message to this government that enough is enough!

Clegg’s feeble attempt to shrug off genuine anger and protest shows us how out of touch the coalition are, and how in his opinion, he has done nothing wrong. What a difference a year makes, how things change!

Out of the wilderness- DM and his defence of the NHS!

The NHS, as a result of the governments planned reforms, is facing a challenge unprecidented in its history, one from which it may not recover. In a defensive salvo, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/06/david-miliband-nhs-reform , David Miliband states that the coalition health plans will undo all the good work of the Labour administration and they will be ”a poison pill for our National Health Service.”

He goes on to state how when the NHS was first created, Nye Bevan famously said that “he wanted the sound of a bedpan dropping on the floor at Tredegar general hospital to be heard in the corridors of Whitehall. He wanted political accountability. This government wants the opposite. It plans to pass the buck on health provision (and on whether drugs should be prescribed on the NHS) to GPs and on quality to the commissioning board.”

I agree wholeheartledy with all david says here. The reforms seem an ideological attack on the NHS, bringing in privatisation, and taking the responsibility from state to the GPs themselves. I have had the experience of my elderly grandfather and other members of my family have to wait ages to see their GP’s due to their demanding workloads. Imagine how long they would have to wait to see their GP if they have the added responsiblity of health provision stripped from the PCTs. This contrary to how the condems see it, is a matter of life and death not just a matter of pounds shilling and pence. A matter of life and death to the patients and to the concept of a National Health service.

I commend david’s defence (his return from the wilderness), in this article and his speaking out in the NHS debate. I urge us and fellow Mps to “oppose it and with absolute clarity and determination.” This is our NHS, this is David’s fight, this is your fight and this is our fight. WE MUST OPPOSE TOGETHER!

 

From the wilderness he rises,

For 40 days and 40 nights,

Wandering, no place to call home,

Wandering in the wilderness, his path on is own.

From the wilderness he rises,

With passion renewed,

With mission given a new,

He rises.

To save the service we hold most dear,

The ones who care for the sick, who raise the dead,

He returns, filling his rapacious enemies with dread,

From the wilderness, the champion of the people,

The great orator, the healer arises.

"Keep your hands off my NHS! Be afraid Clegg-eron, I'm back!"

Email to Ed Miliband- let us be involved

Dear Ed,
 
First of all, congratulations on becoming leader. At long last we have someone who can lead us in our struggle against the con-dems. In your speech you stated that this was a new generation of optimists. What better way than getting all of the members involved and giving them a voice.
I write to ask you, to implore you to show us the leadership we desperatley need, in the form of setting up e-petitions on you or labour’s website. In the case of the NHS direct e-petition created by Lord Prescott , such an e-petition allowed us the memebrs and ordinary people to stand up to the coalitions cuts and we achieved a victory in Langsley’s u-turn. Such e-petitions on the site would be an amazing way of getting people involved and possibly gaining a few victories as in this case. I do all i can with my blogs, but i must confess, i don’t know how to set up an e-petition.
 
During the leadership campaign, you had the living wage petition, Ed Balls had the save our schools petition. In the face of the cuts and in particular the news revealed by the BBC that “the government wants to start piloting the GP consortiums, which will take charge of the budget from the soon-to-be abolished primary care trusts, this financial year,” we feel that we must make a stand for the NHS which we all believe in before it faces catastrophe.
 
So I urge you, make use of your members’ voices, create more e-petitions when the cuts are announced, and lead us like a warrior king into battle against this injustice. People like me want to help but need to be given an outlet to help!
 
Yours in comradeship
 
Anthony Parker (@anthillel)

If you want to help me and @jruddy99 campaign for more online petitions against the Con-Dem cuts, email Ed Miliband and demand your right as a member to be heard!