TWO "TOP doctors" resign, two private hospitals open to compete with
the NHS, two hundred on the march… This is Manchester’s NHS in 2006.
Hugh Caffrey Manchester
The 24 June demonstration against one-in-ten job losses across
northern Greater Manchester was called by Keep Our NHS Public and UNISON
branches. 200 health workers and activists marched, chanting against the
job cuts. Young people and passers-by eagerly joined the demo.
We built strongly for this demonstration, distributing hundreds of
leaflets at Manchester Royal and in Wythenshawe – exposing the
government agenda to break up the NHS, urging people to attend the demo
and the launch of Save Our Baby Unit (SOBU).
The Evening News interviewed Socialist Party members Lynn Worthington
for SOBU and Andrew Billson-Page, chair of Kendal NHS-SOS. Demonstrators
took bundles of our leaflets to distribute – one lady taped our "Defend
Our NHS" poster to her back! We sold about 50 copies of the socialist.
There’s an urgent need to build a mass organised movement. On the
same day, the head of Rochdale Primary Care Trust (PCT) – affected by
the job losses – resigned saying "The use of private providers will
ultimately force PCTs to close as they will become unviable and will
destroy the NHS as we know it."
Days earlier, the region’s ‘top doc’ "decided to step down rather
than face a fifth departmental reorganisation" and two new private
hospitals announced their profiteering plans. Ironically this "top doc"
plans a future in politics – in the Labour Party!
We plan a future of fighting back! Marching with Socialist Party
banners, having gained many signatures for the Campaign for a New
Workers Party we could see the possibility for a growing movement.
We’ll work for more demonstrations, discuss the case for industrial
action, and especially target New Labour’s conference in Manchester in
September. If the "top doc" joins that party of lies and cuts – we’ll
see him there!
West Midlands march to
defend the NHS
