A coalition to defend #ourNHS

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Remembering
Julian Tudor Hart

Subcos/WOCs

new forms of privatisation

We gather as wide a range of information as possible on the fight to defend NHS jobs against the new outsourcing. Check out the page HERE

Turkey: Turkish academic set free

Public health physician and professor Onur Hamzaoğlu has been released, after 150 days of detention by the Erdogan regime. More details here

EXTENSIVE CONTENT, along with NHS England draft ACO/ACS contracts and MORE on this page

Analysis

Critique of Five Year Forward View, STPs and ACOs and much MORE
STPs: How serious are the proposals?
Detailed analysis published by LSBU, with all 44 summaries available HERE
What NHS Finance chiefs think about STPs
Response to this from Nigel Edwards, Nuffield Trust Will the NHS really need fewer beds in the future?, available HERE

Council Fightback

Some councils are taking a stand against STPs – but many are not, and are actively collaborating in plans which lack any public endorsement.

read more here

Debating the Future of Social Care

Discussion article from Bob Hudson

Fighting Privatisation
and PFI

Get the latest

STILL USEFUL: MUST READ ...

NHS for Sale
Myths, Lies and Deception

by Jacky Davis, John Lister and David Wrigley

More information here

Hospital Mi££ions

Enjoy HOSPITAL MILLIONS, the pre-ACO version of our interactive Board game of investment and shameless speculation: fun and education online for up to four players.

“I never knew privatisation could be such fun” – J. Hunt (Surrey)

“Only an idiot wouldn’t like this. I hated it.” – D. Davis (Brussels)

Click here to play

Health Campaigns Together
Issue 11: out now!

This latest issue is a specially-enlarged 16-page issue, with:

UPDATE and analysis on the fight against 'Subcos' and privatisation, and the victory in Wigan,
ANALYSIS of the latest announcements of NHS funding,
A REACTION to the new Health Secretary
A NEW PAGE of news on international campaigns
NEWS of a new campaign on social care and a conference to be held in November
PLUS a 4-page special pull-out on the campaign to Save Liverpool Women's Hospital.

Our tabloid newspaper has been published quarterly since January 2016.

Like every issue No. 11 is packed full of information and analysis for campaigners and union activists. Our circulation has steadily grown to over 10,000 per issue.

The paper is FREE to download.

But if you want copies for campaigning, order bulk copies of issue 11 here ONLINE NOW.

DID YOU MISS OUR EARLIER ISSUES? Back issues of the newspaper can be downloaded here

NEW APP: Find your local campaign

Click on the link here and then on the map or enter your town, city or postcode to find organisations near you fighting to defend OUR NHS.

June 30: tens of thousands celebrate and demonstrate for #OurNHS70

See HERE for a collection of news, video and pictures from the day

NEW APP: Check the health of your local NHS

The TUC and NHS Support Federation have joined forces to publish an excellent new app which allows you to check the health of the NHS in your area.

Enter your postcode and find out what the shortfall is in GPs, hospital staff and hospital beds in your local area as a result of 8 years of Tory austerity – then email your MP and spread the link to your friends, family and neighbours.

Click here for the NHS Health Checker app

CALENDAR of events

Saturday 22nd September 2018
12 noon

March to save Liverpool Women's Hospital

Liverpool Women's Hospital
Corner of Grove St and Upper Parliament St, Liverpool, L8 7SS

Buses from city centre 86, 86A, 86C
March to Albert Dock, ending outside Labour conference
Bring the family, Bring you banners!
Facebook

Sunday 23rd September 2018
TBA

Save the date!
Save Our Children's Services Pilgrim

Boston, Lincolnshire

A family-friendly march
Say no to downgrades for neonatal, maternity, children's ward and A&E U16s at Boston's Pilgrim Hospital

savepilgrimkids@yahoo.com
@savepilgrim

Saturday 6th October 2018
12 PM - 1 PM

Rally and march for HRI - we demand a fully functioning A&E

Market Cross
Market Place, Selby
YO8 4JS

We intend to hold a rally and march a route to be confirmed, round Huddersfield town centre.
Facebook

Saturday 13th October 2018
tbc

March and rally for the NHS

Brighton

Advance notice:
Sussex Defend the NHS, a network of over nearly 3,000 health workers, union activists, and public campaigners, is co-organising a massive march and rally with Brighton and Hove Trades Council on Saturday 13th October 2018
Invite us to speak about it at any appropriate events and publicise widely amongst your members.
- Bring your banner to the march.
- Designate a rep who can be a contact for information abut progress on the march.

If you want to get involved contact us at defendthenhs@gmail.com

Saturday 17th November 2018
10.30-4.00pm

The crisis in Social Care

St Luke’s Church Centre,
Great Colmore Street,
Birmingham B15 2AT (venue tbc)

Advance notice:
Conference to discuss the way forward
Called by Health Campaigns Together
Details to be announced
If you wish to get involved email healthcampaignstogether@gmail.com

More discussion on social care

Newsblog

Another victory against Subco privatisation

Congratulations to Mid Yorkshire Hospitals unions, who had called for strike action on August 20 but have now received confirmation that trust will not proceed with Wholly Owned Subsidiary company ...

Read the full item, and other breaking news

Info links

Links to important new information on other websites

A&E closures failing to boost patient care, study finds FT article stresses the critical findings of a recent lengthy research report – while the advocates of hospital closures cling on to the notion that death rates have not gone up, as many feared.
In fact it's clear that there is inadequate data for many firm or far-reaching conclusions. But the argument for "centralising" A&E services has always revolved around claims that it would concentrate specialist expertise and result in better health care. These have always been contested by local campaigners, demanding evidence.
If there was anything in the 200-page research report that supported that argument, we would have heard all about it by now!

Whatever happened to the STPs (in eastern England)? A round-up by HCT Editor John Lister completed for UNISON a couple of months ago, now available online, shows STPs -- once the great white hope of NHS England for getting round the Health & Social Care Act -- have been largely reduced to generalities, empty phrases, and 'alliances' of purchasers (CCGs) on the one side versus providers (trusts) on the other. The report finds no real evidence of integration of NHS services let alone 'integration' with cash strapped social care and increasingly sceptical local government.
it gives six case studies from the STPs in East of England showing how an idea that might in theory have had some potential has -- in the hands of secretive NHS bureaucrats unwilling to consult or engage with staff or public – become so toxic among local communities that it has had to be re-branded twice since 2016.
It raises the question of how far any of the 44 STPs have got, given the manifest weaknesses that have been identified with them – no serious business plans, no capital, no money to expand community health services, no workforce plans, no public support or legitimacy, and no legal standing .

Medic or not, Dr Bawa-Garba’s case affects us all Keep our NHS Public responds to the welcome court victory of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba who had been convicted of manslaughter and struck off the medical register by the GMC following the tragic death of Jack Adcock, a six-year-old boy in her care. She was a junior doctor without proper supervision in an under-staffed and busy unit, with IT systems down for hours -- and she was hung out to dry while the senior management who should have been held at least jointly responsible have escaped censure and dysfunctional, under-funded systems in many hospitals could produce the same failures again.

Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba wins landmark appeal against being struck off Another brilliant victory announced today after a long and often bitter campaign by junior doctors with support from some of the best consultants. Report from GP Online, with links to other background.

Midland Metropolitan hospital scraps plans to retender collapsed PFI contract The new hospital for North Birmingham and Sandwell that was left in limbo, only two thirds complete, when contractors Carillion went broke in January is to be completed using public funds, and attempts to retender a fresh PFI project have been abandoned. Even management consultants Deloitte now advise that PFI (PPP) would be more expensive:
"Analysis by Deloitte, commissioned by the Trust, concluded that the hospital would cost £319 million to complete with standard public sector procurement, and £424 million if completed under a new PPP contract. The increase is due to the increase in risk for a contractor under a PPP contract."
The total cost of this massively botched contract has yet to be revealed. The initial PFI contract was supposed to complete the hospital for £335m.

A Picture of Health No not a re-run of the disastrous plans to cut and "reconfigure" hospital services in SE London, but a new Fabian pamphlet for the NHS 70th Birthday, edited by Jon Ashworth, shadow health & care secretary, including a chapter on privatisation by Health Campaigns Together.

Search our info links database, or read ALL of them here

Join Us – Affiliate NOW

Major national affiliates now include UNISON, Unite, NEU (Teachers’ union) and FBU. But for strong campaigning we need local union branches and regional bodies to affiliate along with campaigners. The Green Party has also affiliated – and we welcome CLPs and other Labour Party bodies. HCT remains non-party, but very political – join us now!