MORE than 10,000 NHS workers, other trade unionists and members of the public marched from UCLH hospital in Euston, central London, to a mass rally opposite Downing Street in Whitehall on Saturday afternoon.
The demonstration was called by SOS NHS, with the lead banner declaring: ‘Support the Strikes – Fund our NHS – NHS Privatisation Kills’.
Other banners included ‘Doctors for the NHS – Service not Profit, Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Healthcare has no Borders, Barnet Unison, Whittington Hospital Unison NHS Not for Sale, Keep the Horton General, Save Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mental Health – Time for Action’.
There was a large and loud contingent of nurses behind the SE London RCN Branch Banner which read: ‘Our NHS is missing 40,000 nurses – Safe Staffing Saves Lives – Safe Staffing Now.’
Behind the Young Socialists – TUC Call a General Strike to Kick the Tories Out banner and the West London Council of Action – Keep Ealing Hospital Open – Occupy to Stop All Closures banners there were constant chants of: ‘Pay Doctors Now! Stop Privatisation! Defend the NHS! Kick the Tories Out!’
Members of contingents from around the country spoke to News Line as the march was assembling and proceeding through the busy London streets.
Jerzy Olechnowicz, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals Unite Branch Convenor, said: ‘We are here to show solidarity with all working people, fight low pay and voice our defence of the NHS and all public services.
‘The NHS has been under threat since the Blair years, but it’s reaching a tipping point. By doing this we want to show that people can unite, make a difference, protect their services and not fill the pockets of the already mega-rich.
‘The TUC should move right to the forefront and be the uniting force. We are building up strength and we can and must win.’
Felicity Dowling, co-founder of the Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital Campaign, said: ‘We’ve brought a minibus down today.
‘Our particular interest is obviously the maternity crisis, which is a crisis across the country where there is a dire shortage of midwives, not just in Liverpool.
‘The midwifery leader Donna Ockendon has recently done a major report on avoidable maternity deaths and the main message of it is that there are not enough midwives.
‘Liverpool Women’s Hospital is a 27-year-old hospital, a modern building on a good site, a lovely place.
‘But because they think they need to close one hospital in Liverpool they’ve chosen the Women’s, the biggest maternity hospital in the country.
‘They first came up with the proposals seven years ago and now there’s been a report this year, 2023, going back to the idea of closing.
‘We’ve got 60,000 signatures on our petition, which show the massive support we’ve got.’
Aliya Yule, from the Patients Not Passports (PNP) campaign, said: ‘I work for Migrants Organise and we work with migrants and refugees.
‘Under the Hostile Environment instigated by Teresa May migrants are charged up to 150% of the cost of their NHS care.
‘Under this system we see people who are afraid to access treatment because the NHS shares patient information with the Home Office.
‘Essentially the PNP campaign is fighting for a truly universal healthcare service. We have to unite our struggles for the NHS.’
Stevie Robertson, GMB Banbury Branch Secretary, said: ‘We need to stop privatising the NHS and bring it back into true public ownership and properly funded.
‘We should all be out to defend the NHS. The TUC should call a general strike and smash the anti-union laws. Labour wants our support in the election but they don’t support us.
‘Our branch has disaffiliated from the local CLP (Constinuency Labour Party) because of Starmer and his cronies and their lack of support for the trade unions and their attacks on the left wing. We’ve got to build a new leadership.’
Doreen Jones, a nurse and Unite member with Newcastle Children’s Mental Health Trust, said: ‘The union leaders are keeping us too separate. We haven’t even been balloted yet. The RCN only balloted trust by trust because of the anti-union laws. The only way forward is a general strike.
‘This strike wave is not really just about money. We’ve all learnt to rely on the NHS and we need more staff. There’s not enough staff.
‘Every nurse is worried about the NHS. There’s nobody saying everything is alright – clearly it’s not alright. We are going to have to rise up.
‘We haven’t had anything from the union leadership urging people to come on today’s demonstration.’
Tara Goodman, RCM, Redhill, said: ‘I’m fed up with short-staffing and I want to improve patient safety. I’d like enough equipment and time to be able to do my job properly.
‘I work in the homebirth team and staff shortages mean our team sometimes gets suspended. Staff shortages are affecting everyone in the NHS.
‘The TUC should call a general strike. It’s not just an NHS issue and it’s not just in the public sector.’
Janet Maiden, UCLH Unison nurse, said: ‘The RCN at UCLH had one of the biggest picket lines in Britain and Unison members have also been out. We need more united strike action.
‘It doesn’t make sense to have different unions striking on different days, or to have one union only calling some members out but not others. This crisis is not going away and we will fight to the finish for the NHS.’
Clare Hammond, RCN and 35 years at Royal Stoke Hospital, said: ‘Safe staffing and a living wage – these are the issues and really it’s the same issue.
‘The NHS is under immediate threat now because the staff are leaving in droves.
‘The staff are the NHS and that’s all the staff, not just doctors and nurses, but porters, cleaners, healthcare assistants are vital, ambulance staff, drivers. It couldn’t function without any of them. We need to do something drastic now to protect the NHS. If we lose it we’ll never get it back. The work it does is world class, second to none.’
Royal Mail worker Gerry Daly, CWU member at Jubilee Mail Centre in Hounslow, said: ‘I’m here for the same reason as everyone else, because I want our NHS to be protected. I would like to see all the health unions come out on strike together and all the other unions too. All the unions should come on strike to defend the NHS.’
Charlotte Bird, of Keep the Horton, Banbury, said: ‘Horton should be kept as a General Hospital. The name is Horton General Hospital, but Oxford University Hospital Foundation Trust have done everything to undermine it and reduce it.
‘We’ve brought a coach up from Banbury. We’re a very strong campaign. Banbury is a rapidly expanding area. It’s surrounded by villages with new housing estates.
‘We’ve been fighting since 2006. In 2008 we won a fantastic victory to save the Banbury General, but the Trust has never forgiven us and chipped away.’
Jordan Rivera, occupational therapist and Unison Branch Secretary at Homerton Hospital, Hackney, said: ‘We have to save the NHS. The government is trying to get rid of it, force us into private healthcare and to be so desperate we have to take out private health insurance. A general strike would be great.’
At a rally ahead of the march, John McDonell, Hayes and Harlington Labour MP: ‘The NHS now has 140,000 vacancies, 50,000 of them for nurses. It is a plan to scrap the NHS and turn it over to insurance companies – a plot to end the NHS.’
Janet Farrer, President of the UCU, said: ‘Lots of our members are doctors and nurses in research and part of the trade union movement, busy with industrial action. Working class people need the NHS and will not stop fighting for it.’
Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow, said: ‘Shout out to Save Tyneside Hospital. I’m a trade unionist first. Health Secretary Steve Barclay did not turn up to meetings with the trade unions yesterday.
‘The crisis is worse with thousands dying every day. Social murder I call it. Lives could have been saved. We have to campaign together to kick out the Tories and privateers.’
Onay Katab, Unite national officer, said: ‘It’s time to take the NHS out of the hands of people who don’t even care for human rights. Healthcare must be universal and free at the point of use.
‘The energy companies have taken £170bn of excess profits. At least £50bn should be taken as Windfall tax. All PFI debts must be cancelled. All NHS services must be insourced. There must be a fair decent wage for all NHS workers.’
Martin Cavanagh, deputy president of PCS, said: ‘This is a morally bankrupt government. If it thinks it can strip away the NHS without a fight it’s got another thing coming.
‘On 15th March three quarters of a million workers will show they’ve had enough of cuts to pay and services. There will be 1000 picket lines and a march to Trafalgar square by the NEU, PCS and the UCU.’
More speeches were made after the march arrived at Whitehall.
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘The imposition of PFI contracts, the Health and Social Care Bill are privatisation, meaning that the NHS is being sliced up and sold off.
‘No! We want the NHS to be publicly owned and provided by public service staff with no internal market.
‘When the NHS staff are striking, the media says they are striking against the public, but in fact they are fighting for decent wages, and conditions and to defend our NHS. I will be with the junior doctors on Monday morning.’
Corbyn also pointed out that the NHS was built on migrant labour and employs a huge number of overseas workers.
‘Those desperate people in dinghies on the channel are the doctors and nurses of tomorrow. I shall be voting against this disgusting legislation, against barbed wire, electronic surveillance and the rest.
‘We are sending a message and are proud that NHS workers stand alongside people seeking a place of safety to live. What sort of society do we want – one of markets and cruelty – or of equality, opportunity and hope?’
Simon Day, Ambulance branch secretary for the GMB West Midlands, said: ‘Paramedics and call handlers have voted for strike action. Ambulances are waiting for hours outside hospitals.
‘Patients call 999 and are told there is no ambulance available. This is the direct result of the politics of this government to run the NHS into the ground. I’m amazed we’ve let them do it.’
Dr Philip Banfield, Chairman of BMA Council said: ‘We are here because we care about the NHS, about patients and each other.
‘The number of people who are dying because they cannot access care is a scandal. The number of workers being driven out, because of poor pay and conditions is a scandal.
‘This government cares more about profits. The government says it can’t afford to give decent pay to NHS workers, but the rich have never been richer and the poor have never been sicker.
‘Vast sums are being spent on agency staff. Over 7 million people are on NHS waiting lists.
‘Consultants are angry over the drop in the value of their pay. GPs are livid over the imposition of an imposed contract.
‘Junior doctors have made an unprecedented and tough decision to strike for 72 hours for fair pay and the future of the NHS. It’s better to lose them for 72 hours than to lose them forever.
‘The NHS is in crisis. We demand action. The BMA is in solidarity with you to end this NHS crisis. We can do this!’
• See Photo Gallery
