Health workers, patients and community campaigners are holding a public meeting tomorrow evening (Monday 25 July) about health services.
The group behind the meeting, Keep Our NHS Public, said that it wants to discuss how to stop the government from privatising the NHS.
Speakers include Dr Ron Singer, president of the Medical Practitioners Union, Steve Bell, a member of the union Unison’s National Executive Council, and Bronwen Handyside, from Hackney Keep Our NHS Public.
Information about the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government’s plans will be outlined along with how these changes will affect health workers and patients.
The organisers said that the coalition had been trying to water down its NHS reforms under pressure from the huge weight of opposition from trade unions, health professionals and almost 500,000 public signatures on the 38 Degrees online petition.
But, the organisers said, the threat of privatisation was still embedded in the Health and Social Care Bill.
In the past week, the organisers said, the government announced that £1 billion of NHS services are to be opened up to competition from private companies and charities.
They said that this would place profits and bank balances ahead of patient needs and care.
They added that the Southern Cross care home scandal showed the problems of leaving vital services in the hands of the private sector.
And how this could potentially have disastrous consequences for the most vulnerable and those most in need of public support.
The meeting – Our NHS Is Not For Sale – is due to start at 7pm at the Friends Meeting House in Ship Street, Brighton.
