Lewis Melville, Liverpool Socialist Party
The show of solidarity from the Liverpool community on 8 October to ‘Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital’ was immense. The march brought together many different people: trade unionists from the British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing, and Fire Brigades Union, and members of the Socialist Party. The Katumba band lifted the spirits of the crowd.
Hundreds flocked to join the march down to the Pier Head to stand outside the Labour Party conference, demanding that local Labour councillors and the Labour Party nationally should stand up and resist the persistent budget cuts which have fallen on the workers, healthcare, and people of Liverpool.
Liverpool Women’s Hospital has stood as a bastion of health and support for over 100 years, providing vital maternity care and keeping women safe. However, austerity measures by the Tory government in 2015 and continuing to the present have seen attempts to merge the Women’s Hospital with the Royal Hospital nearby, diluting the maternity services and inclusive environment that is vital to women’s health during pregnancy.
Previous attempts at privatising services have seen workers campaigning and fighting back, making calls for an increase in funding, improvements to working conditions, and for all aspects of the NHS to be permanently renationalised.
The Liverpool Women’s Hospital has stood strong for over a century, we will not stand by and let it crumble and erode.
