‘NATIONAL Action is needed to defend the NHS & stop hospital closures!’ was the title of the resolution that was carried unanimously at a packed 150-strong Conference called by the North East London Council of Action in Enfield on Sunday afternoon.
The resolution warned: ‘We now have a government that is determined to destroy and privatise the Welfare State. . .
‘The struggle at Chase Farm, Enfield to keep the hospital open has gone on for over six years so that now we have a daily picket to keep alert for when they attempt to close the hospital. The whole area is determined to keep it open and we will occupy it and ensure that all departments are able to run freely.
‘We call for everyone else – from Ealing hospital, St Helier’s, all over London and nationally, to organise to be ready to occupy their hospital to keep them open.’
The resolution continued: ‘The planned demonstration by the trade unions on October 20 is welcomed – but it is not enough. We need strike action by these unions to take on this government and defeat them.
‘The Health and Social Care Act must be repealed and this government must be driven out.
‘All over the country we must set up Councils of Action that will unite those who work in the hospitals and the NHS with patients, pensioners, students and youth.’
The motion concluded: ‘These Councils of Action must mobilise the masses of people to demand the TUC calls a general strike to bring down this coalition, and go forward to a workers government with socialist policies that will keep our NHS open and keep the privateers out!’
The conference heard impassioned speeches from people who spoke from experience and made abundantly clear that the defence of the NHS and Chase Farm Hospital is a matter of life and death.
Angela Philocratous said: ‘I was told I had three months to live. I had breast cancer. I was told there would be delays in my treatment. I went to a private company and was told my chemotherapy would cost me £80,000!
‘But Chase Farm saved me. Within two weeks I was getting treatment. Chase Farm saved my life and everyone who looked after me was wonderful. What’s happening is terrible. We need to fight and give it our all.’
North East London Council of Action Secretary Bill Rogers opened the conference and moved the resolution.
‘This Conference had to be called,’ he said. ‘National action is absolutely necessary to halt these cuts.
‘There is a huge wave of cuts and closures. The NHS is the jewel in the crown of the Welfare State. We have a right to use the NHS and a duty to defend it.’
He explained: ‘Why a daily picket? So we’ve got our eyes and ears there. So we’re alert to what’s going on.
‘As soon as they move towards closure of any department we will occupy.’
Rogers continued: ‘A few words about District General Hospitals. DGHs are essential because they are consultant-led local hospitals and are training hospitals for doctors and nurses. The current limit for private patients in a DGH is 3%, but under the Health and Social Care Act that limit is raised to 49%.
‘Whole communities are rising up to defend their DGHs. Last week 10,000 marched against the closure of Ealing Hospital.’
Pointing to a report in the Sunday papers that 25 DGHs nationally are threatened, Rogers warned: ‘These plans will be a death trap for people who are seriously ill.’
He concluded: ‘Our main concern is the lack of action by the trade union leaders. At the TUC conference in Brighton they were forced into calling for what they called an investigation into the practicalities of a general strike. Never mind the practicalities, what’s needed is the calling of a general strike. We need a general strike to smash this government.
‘But we also need to set up Councils of Action and we’re going to have to organise occupations. It is a matter of occupying these hospitals. Chase Farm will have to be occupied. And the unions must be made to stand up and fight.’
Retired surgeon Anna Athow, who was on the BMA Council for four years, said: ‘They’re denationalising the health service – getting rid of District General Hospitals in order to privatise health care. DGHs are too good.
‘They are moving to get rid of A&Es, Maternity and Paediatric units everywhere.
‘In Ealing the consultants phoned all the GPs and asked what they thought of the threatened closure of the A&E and 90% opposed it.
‘All they want in London is 12 major hospitals.
‘The same is happening everywhere. They are bringing in rationing, putting limits on hip, knee and cataract surgery.
‘There are far too few nurses on wards and they have postponed the report on the Mid Staffs scandal because they know it would spill the beans on what they are doing all over the country, getting rid of nurses.
‘GPs should have nothing to do with Clinical Commissioning stooge organisations.
‘We need a general strike and a workers government. At Chase Farm they’ve postponed the closure because of the campaign. Build Councils of Action all over London. Prepare to occupy.’
Professor Julian Leff, from University College London, said: ‘I’m a doctor and my father was one too. When he married my mother he went to the Soviet Union to see the national health service there.
‘Britain was not the first country with a National Health Service.
‘What has happened in the Soviet Union is a terrible warning of what happens when a national health service is taken away.
‘Between 1990 and 1994, over just four years, life expectancy for men in the Soviet Union was cut from 63.8 to 57.7 and for women it went down from 74 to 71.
‘65% of the deaths were cardiovascular and from injuries, indicating that people died because there were not the services available.’
Lara Hughes, a school student from Ealing, said: ‘We have to stop the closure of Ealing Hospital.
‘My grandfather has been hospitalised repeatedly all his life. I’ve had loads of really intense care on my face.
‘If we don’t have emergency care, what can we do? We’re not going to be brainwashed into accepting this. All together, we should stop this and stand up and fight.’
Professor Michael Carney, BMA, said: ‘I know the reality of travelling. If you need an ambulance you need one.
‘In normal circumstances it takes 20 minutes for an ambulance to drive from Chase Farm to Barnet, but in the rush-hour it’s 45 minutes even if you’re “blue lighting”.
‘What this government is doing with its hospital closure plans is risking lives, all for the bankers and their massive bonuses.
‘There is a very real risk to the health of the people of Enfield. The reality is if the A&E goes at Chase Farm people will die because of the time it takes to get to Barnet. We are faced with a real threat to our health.
‘PFI is the most iniquitous thing of all. PFI is about taking money from the state, the money we own, and giving it into private hands.’
Barry Cross, Secretary of the Welwyn and Hatfield Keep the NHS Public campaign, said: ‘We had our maternity unit at the QE2 go last year and they opened the Jubilee Maternity Unit instead, where they won’t let mothers in until they are ready to drop.
‘Our A&E has been cut to 50% – only open from 8am to 8pm, the rest of the time it’s a “walk in centre”.
‘As well as our maternity and A&E, our mental health services are being threatened.
‘We stand in solidarity with you. All power to you and good luck to you. You are showing the way forward.’
Ann-Marie Van Langenberg, a lawyer, said: ‘The NHS has changed my life. I have MS and the treatment I get at Chase Farm is absolutely fantastic.’
She told how when she went to a private doctor she received the wrong drugs and the wrong dosage because he wanted to make money out of her.
‘I think the NHS is wonderful and I am going to fight for it. If you want my services as a lawyer, you are welcome to them.’
Paul Lepper, from the Young Socialists, said: ‘The YS has supported the North East London picket of Chase Farm right from the start.
‘To close down a hospital is murder. And a government that closes hospitals has got to be brought down.
‘We went to the Ealing march, a huge march. Everyone on that march supported our slogans.
‘We need to set up Councils of Action absolutely everywhere. People support occupying. You saw it on that march. We’re going to secure the buildings. We’ll set up a ring of iron.’
Ernie Parsons said: ‘I received my injuries in the 2nd World War and I’ve received wonderful treatment at Chase Farm Hospital for 66 years.
‘Spread this all around to your friends and all the people you meet. The MPs ignore us, so tell everyone.’
Winding up the discussion, Bill Rogers said: ‘With the occupation, we haven’t got a choice. What Professor Leff said is absolutely true. When you smash a health system there are masses of deaths.
‘We are going to occupy Chase Farm. Build Councils of Action everywhere.’
The motion was then put to a vote, and carried unanimously.
