Advertisement
Activism

Doctors and MPs join ‘save the NHS’ protest outside parliament

The demonstration against the health and care bill was organised by union Unite, which says this is the “last chance to save the NHS” from the “privatisation bill.”

Doctors and MPs joined protesters outside Downing Street to demand the government scraps a bill that campaigners say will privatise the NHS.

The demonstration against the health and care bill was organised by union Unite, which said it was the “last chance to save the NHS” from what it called the “privatisation bill.”

Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd of around 200 campaigners, NHS staff and members of the public, calling for an “NHS run for people not for profit”.

He said: “I would urge you to join in a united movement to defend the principal of healthcare free at the point of need in our society.”

MPs and protesters in Whitehall. Image: Evie Breese

Labour MPs Rebecca Long Bailey, Dawn Butler, Richard Burgon and Ian Lavery also took to the podium to call for the bill to be scrapped.

“We don’t want to see the further privatisation, the further Americanisation of the NHS, where they feel for your wallet before they feel for your pulse,” shouted Burgon to cheers.

Advertisement
Advertisement

The bill would restructure parts of the NHS in England, with the goal of creating a ‘truly integrated’ healthcare system that involves less central bureaucracy. 

MPs will on Tuesday vote on the bill for the third and final time before it heads to the Lords.

Anti-vaccine protesters chanting “no vaccine mandate” tried to drown out speeches during the event.

“Whatever views you have or do not have on vaccines you need the NHS just like everybody else…. shut up,” Jeremy Corbyn shouted at the small but loud crowd.

This bill “will introduce perverse incentives for doctors to deny care to patients. It will make it harder for patients to recieve care. Patients will be waiting longer, some of them will be forced to go private” Dr Bob Gill, a practising GP told The Big Issue before he took to the stage.

Protesters in Whitehall. Image: Evie Breese

The bill proposes to establish 42 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) with the power to authorise legislation across England. Unite says that would bring about a “complete break up of the NHS as we know it”.

The 42 parts will have space for private companies to sit on their boards, who will then be able to influence the running of an ICS – including who receives contracts, the services it provides and at what cost. 

“The bill is being used to further run down the NHS and to bring in more privatisation by the back door,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. “It will also lay the path for lower standards of care and further attacks on the pay and conditions of NHS staff.

“We will ramp up resources to defend our health sector members and oppose these unnecessary attacks.”

Unite fears some boards might decide not to offer certain procedures or treatments labelling them as not cost effective. These boards could operate like commercial entities, maximising budgets over patients’ health.

Unite, which represents over 100,000 health service workers, also fears that, without adequate protection of staff terms and conditions, the current staffing crisis that has seen patients waiting in ambulances outside A&E for 14 hours will get worse.

Organisations including the British Medial Association and Royal College of Nursing have called for an amendment to the bill, tabled by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt – now chair of the Health and Social Care Committee – to address the staffing shortages crippling the NHS.

“There can be no doubt that the staffing crisis is the single biggest challenge facing our health and care services. Despite this, the proposals for workforce planning in the bill fall woefully short of providing any long-term solutions,” reads the letter published in The Times

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
How Mexico's women hijacked Día de los Muertos to remember the missing and the murdered
The Day of the Dead Women protests in Mexico City in 2021
Activism

How Mexico's women hijacked Día de los Muertos to remember the missing and the murdered

TV legend Carol Vorderman on death, social media and why she's still voice of the opposition
Exclusive

TV legend Carol Vorderman on death, social media and why she's still voice of the opposition

I'm an Israeli who helped survivors of 7 October attack. Here's why we need a ceasefire in Gaza
War in Gaza

I'm an Israeli who helped survivors of 7 October attack. Here's why we need a ceasefire in Gaza

100 students die by suicide at university each year. These parents are fighting to change that
Mental health

100 students die by suicide at university each year. These parents are fighting to change that

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue