Protest against NHS cuts gathers momentum
pharmafile | October 26, 2006 | News story | |Â Â Â
Protests against planned cuts to NHS services are taking place around the UK, with anger rising in a number of areas where hospital A&E closures have been proposed.
The government and the new chief executive of the NHS, David Nicholson, are determined to make what they believe are painful, but necessary, cuts to make the NHS more patient-centred and financially stable in the long-term, and say A&E cuts are central to this process.
But the movement against cutbacks and closures has gathered pace since the summer, with marches and rallies held across the country, with thousands turning out in Nottingham, Southampton, Cambridge, Redditch, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham and Guildford.
Local campaigners have united with opposition MPs, while unions and healthcare professional bodies have formed their own alliance, NHS Together, which is planning a major rally in Westminster on 1 November.
The Department of Health insists that no major changes to local services will be made without consultation with local communities – but the strength of feeling nationally suggests no such plans would gain support in any part of the country.
A spokesman for the NHS Together said its march on 1 November, including a meeting with MPs at the House of Commons, will highlight the strength of feeling.
The alliance is made up of unions such as Amicus and Unison and professional bodies representing a full range of NHS professionals, including the Royal College of Nursing, the BMA, the Hospital Consultants & Specialists Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
"Staff morale is at an all-time low," said a spokesperson for NHS Together. "We support changes that improve patient care, but there is too much top down change that has not won the support or involvement of the staff who have to implement it.
"The slowdown in spending is being handled badly, with real cuts on the ground. And we are very worried that the NHS is being fragmented with a rapid dash to the private sector and the introduction of competition. The government should do more to recognise the progress made by their extra money and our hard work, and should make sure that change and reform involves the staff who will have to deliver it."
The NHS Confederation, which represents NHS managers, including those proposing the A&E cuts, called for greater political support for trusts trying to introduce major reforms which would ultimately benefit patients.
She continued: "Managers are making very difficult decisions and need much more political support – that's something we have been requesting for some time."
She added that a great deal of media coverage had led the public to believe A&E closures would result in worse services locally, but said that service re-design would, in fact, bring services closer to home and improve patient experiences.
She concluded that distrust of the government was another source of the protests, and called for a move away from focusing on targets for reform to greater communication of the benefits of the changes.
