Save the NHS!

Tameside 'SAVE THE NHS' launch, with David Heyes MP and Andrew Gwynne MP

On Saturday, my CLP of Ashton Under Lyne, the CLP’s of Denton & Reddish, and Stalybridge & Hyde united to launch Tameside’s ‘Save The NHS’ petition. Our mission, aligned with Labour’s wider mission is to send a message to David Cameron to change course on NHS reform, as we will not accept the loss of at least 10,000 jobs as estimated by the Royal College of Nursing, and his breaking his pledge for no more top down re-organisation of the NHS and the NHS budget. 
 
In our modern society, it is accepted that a ’civilized nation looks after its citizens’ health, ensures a good education for all, and takes care of the vulnerable,’yet for the first time in its existance, the NHS faces reforms which involve more privitisation that will threaten the very core of the NHS.  One of the goals of the reform bill is to reduce bureaucracy by shifting power from the centre to GPs and patients, moving somewhere between £60 to £80 billion into the hands of groups of GPs to commission services. This would seem to fly directly in the face of being able to hear in Whitehall, as Aneurin Bevan put it, the dropping of a bedpan in a distant hospital. 
 
As a Labour member, I believe that the NHS, created when our nation was rebuilding itself after a bitter war, is our finest achievement. Countless millions over the years of its existance have relied on it, the service being the difference between life and death. I believe that a vigorous battle over the reform bill, which make no mistake will destroy what we hold most dear, will be the very redemption of our party. A disabled man came up to me today saying thank you that someone is standing for him and for people like him. If in doubt about what we stand for, look at the principles of an NHS, think of this man and the service that sustains him and us all!
 
Today, amongst the furore of the Hackgate scandal, the government have announced they will open up more than £1bn of NHS services to competition from private companies and charities, increasing fears that it will inevitably lead to the “privatisation of the health service”- http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/19/nhs-services-open-to-competition?CMP=twt_iph

I urge you if you value the NHS to sign this petition on 38 degrees and fight for the service that makes Britain great- http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/Protect_our_NHS_Petition

Battle for the NHS- condem retreat, for now at least!

RETREAT- the NHS reform Bill has been stalled for now. The health secretary said ministers were “listening” and would now “pause” to allow further consultation. Critics say changes are being done too quickly and some have attacked the bill as a way of privatising the NHS.

Mr Lansley said “I can therefore tell the House that we propose to take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of the Bill to pause, listen and engage with all those who want the NHS to succeed, and subsequently to bring forward amendments to improve the plans further in the normal way.”

A victory of sorts, yet we havent won the war. WE STILL NEED TO FIGHT! Sign the petition below if you havent already and show the con-dems that we will defend our NHS:

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/Protect_our_NHS_Petition

Lets turn this temporary retreat into a rout! Show this condem government that this is OUR NHS!

Retreat,

They halt their onslaught,

Opposition mounts before them, a barrier a shield,

The bugle sounds, they halt their onslaught.

Retreat, they seek to listen,

Not yet a defeat, they wage war with persuasion,

Deception yet we shall not be decieved,

Fight for the Mother NHS, whose breats have suckled us,

Whose caring arms have comforted us, bandaged us over the years,

They feign retreat, yet we shall not stop until a white flag is raised,

Till the assault on our mother ends, until they face defeat!

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!