| Londoners should use their vote in the upcoming Euro elections to send a strong clear message to politicians at Westminster and Brussels to stop the NHS privatisation. That was the message from the National Health Action Party as it launched its European election campaign. The Party is fielding a full slate of eight candidates in the London region of the Euro elections, including theatre and TV star Rufus Hound and the GP who spear-headed the successful campaign to save Lewisham Hospital, Dr Louise Irvine. And in a clear reference to a poll showing UKIP gaining in support, the NHA Party is also telling the public: “Don’t just ‘protest vote’. Vote for something you believe in. Vote for the NHS’. Rufus Hound acted as Master of Ceremonies for the launch, at the Roxy Bar and Screen in Borough High Street near London Bridge. The actor, who’s currently appearing in the West End in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, told supporters: “Health care, accorded by need not wealth, must surely be the mark of a truly civilised society. The lie that we can’t afford it, is just that. A lie. It’s not that *we* can’t afford it. It’s that a privileged minority don’t want us to have it. Well, to hell with them. Demand it. Expect it. Fight for it. “Now is the time to show this Government what we think about them running down and privatising the NHS. Make some noise! Stand up for your NHS! If you don’t do it in this European election, we may have lost the NHS by the next one rolls around.” NHA Party co-leader, cancer specialist Dr Clive Peedell, said the Euro elections could see his Party breaking onto the political stage: “We need around 200,000 votes to get one MEP elected. Out of a London voting population of around 5 million, that is eminently doable. If we do gain a Euro MEP or two, it will be a game-changer. It will dramatically raise our profile & put real pressure on both the Coalition and the Labour Party over the NHS. We started this party in opposition to the Coalition Government’s Health & Social Care Act which has effectively abolished the English NHS. We were also very disappointed with the Labour Party because we felt they weren’t stepping up to the plate in defending our NHS and colluded in the privatisation of the NHS. They souped up the market in the NHS, and opened the door to Cameron and Lansley to inflict the Health & Social Care Act onto the NHS – to bang in the last few nails into to the NHS Coffin. “We believed a new political party was needed to defend the values of the NHS. And here we are now, with journalists from the national press are already starting to listen to us and taking us seriously. We are on the brink of breaking onto the political stage. Let’s use this Euro election to get us there.” The NHA Party, which launched just over a year ago, was this week declared the top twitter influencer on the NHS, with Dr Peedell having more influence that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The Party currently has over 47 thousand followers, far outstripping UKIP. Among the candidates standing in the Euro elections is a trio from Lewisham who were all involved in the successful battle with Jeremy Hunt over his attempt to downgrade the hospital there. The Save Lewisham Campaign went to court twice – and won. Dr Louise Irvine, chair of the Safe Lewisham Campaign, said: “We need a movement to defend the NHS. The story of Lewisham shows what can be achieved with mass resistance. The NHS is under threat as never before – a threat to its very existence as a public service. Londoners must use their vote in the upcoming Euro elections to send a strong clear message to politicians at Westminster and Brussels: stop the NHS privatisation. A big vote for NHA would send a powerful message that people really care about the NHS. It would be like a referendum on the NHS. Don’t just ‘protest vote’ at these elections. Vote for something you believe in. Vote for the NHS.” “It’s also crucial that that the NHS is exempted from an impending international deal between the EU and the US. The so-called TTIP will make privatisation of the NHS irreversible. It will lock privatisation of the NHS into an international agreement we can never get out of. This is a life or death issue for the NHS. “There are also vital public health affairs that Europe legislates around and we need a strong, principled, people-centred voice to be heard, whether on the environment and pollution, the regulation of medicines and doctors, or food labelling and food safety. If elected , I will prioritise public health and wellbeing in all policy decisions.” Also running from the Lewisham campaign are leading A&E consultant Chidi Ejimofo, and maternity rights campaigner, Jessica Ormerod. Chidi Ejimofo launched a stinging attack on the way the Government is slashing the number of A&E departments across London and extending this policy across England: “This obstinate refusal to alter policy despite rational arguments, despite reasoned objections, despite legal rulings, can only be because their policy is guided not by a desire to improve clinical standards or even to improve financial viability, it is dictated by an ideology which is determined to dismantle the NHS as it presently exists. A&Es aren’t profitable, they aren’t meant to be. If you do a quick internet search of private A&Es in the UK I can guarantee you’ll end up with a very short list that offers at best very limited services. Unfortunately it seems that private healthcare’s distaste for A&Es has been shared by successive governments leaving us underfunded, understaffed and now the focus of incessant attacks in the media.” Jessica Ormerod hit out against the way maternity units are battered by Government policy: “Across the country maternity units are being down-graded or closed. More women are facing longer journeys to give birth to their babies in safety. Women are being denied choice in where to give birth and midwives are being strained and de-skilled. Maternity is unlike any other health service. The users are not patients, they do not need treatment: they need care – sometimes complex care – and they need respect. We know that small maternity units, midwife or obstetric-led give a better and more valued service. So why are so many of these units being downgraded or closed?” Also standing for the NHA party is North London Royal Free nurse Kathryn Anderson: “For me, nurses are the backbone of hospital-based care. Insufficient nurses on a ward – both the number of nurses and the skill mix – will lead to inadequate care. It’s not rocket science. Somewhere between 4000 and 6000 nursing posts have been removed from the NHS since the Tory/Lib Dem coalition came to power, all in the name of saving money. This may seem a small number in the overall picture of the NHS, however it’s obvious that reducing nursing staff in clinical areas is just one of the ways this government is chipping away at the fabric of what holds the NHS together and that is patient care. Because at the end of the day, caring for people is all that matters and is what the NHS does best.” Junior doctor, Alex Ashman, who trained at University College London Hospital said he was worried by what he’d witnessed was happening to the NHS: “I’ve worked in NHS hospitals as a junior doctor for the last four years. I’ve seen first-hand the rationing of surgical procedures and the cherry-picking of easy cases by privately-owned treatment centres, both of which harm surgical training and thus future patient care. I’m worried that further privatisation of the NHS by the coalition government will make things worse still, and that the EU-US Trade Deal will lock in this privatisation, making it impossible to reverse the damage.” And Waltham Forest children’s book publisher Andrew Sharp, spoke emotionally about his older brother who tragically died from cancer at the age of 6: “My parents would have had to bankrupt their young family when my older brother was ill with cancer. For two years the NHS cared for Matt, just as it cares for us all. No payment required beyond the taxes we already pay. If forced to pay my parents surely would have bankrupted themselves trying to save Matt’s life. And then failed. Some people think the NHS will always be there. Well, it’s looking precarious right now. Some would say ‘get health insurance’. Well, cancer care is an expensive business. Did you know that healthcare costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US, causing 62% of bankruptcies? People go bankrupt just trying to stay healthy or to keep a loved one alive.” The NHA Party unveiled its 8th and final candidate: best-selling popular science writer and influential NHS tweeter Marcus Chown. He attacked the government for bringing in NHS reforms that no one wanted or voted for: “The dismantling of the NHS under a smokescreen of lies is the worst thing a UK government has done to its people in my lifetime. Without doubt, it will cause increased deaths and unnecessary suffering. No politician would dare get rid of our NHS in one go – which is why David Cameron is removing it gradually, banking on us being too daft to notice. No one gave him permission to dismantle our NHS. In fact, he has no democratic mandate whatsoever since he concealed his intentions from the public at the last election.” Closing the Campaign Launch, the NHA Party co-leader and former independent MP for Wyre Forest Dr Richard Taylor, said:. “As we demonstrated in Wyre Forest in 2001, when I was elected as an MP for the first time, the ballot box is the ordinary person’s ultimate weapon against authority that has acted against the wishes and needs of local people. We are not trying to be a party of government. But we want to be a party in government. We think we have a valuable contribution to make to the health of our nation. Health, in its widest sense, transcends all fields of human existence – poverty, housing, employment, education and even aspects of international relations. In the NHAP constitution we describe the NHS as “more than just a structure for the delivery of healthcare. It was also a social institution that reflected national solidarity; expressed the values of equity and universalism; and institutionalised the duty of government to care for all in society.” ENDS Notes to editors: Voting is via proportional representation with seats allocated according to the number of votes received by each party. The more votes, the more people on the party list will be elected. It’s estimated that around 200,000 votes are needed in the London region to get one MEP elected. The National Health Action Party was launched at the end of 2012 by doctors, health care workers and ordinary people who were seriously concerned at the impact the government’s massive top-down NHS reorganisation. They say this is leading to increasing privatisation of the NHS and has wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and led to the closure of A&E departments and local hospitals, massive understaffing of doctors and nurses, harmful rationing of care and the NHS 111 shambles. The NHA Party, which has over forty seven thousand twitter followers, surpassing UKIP, is led by the former and prospective MP for Wyre Forest Dr Richard Taylor, who won at two general elections campaigning on a local hospital issue, and the cancer specialist Dr Clive Peedell, who has announced he’ll be challenging David Cameron in Witney in 2015. The NHA Party is also fielding candidates in the local elections in Liverpool, Rotherham, Cheltenham, Plymouth and London. |