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From The Socialist newspaper, 23 August 2017
Chatsworth ward patients and campaigners demand answers
Socialist Party public meeting in defence of Chatsworth rehab ward, 3.8.17, photo Paul Tooley-Okonkwo (Click to enlarge)
Mansfield Socialist Party
A highly charged and unusual meeting took place 16 August on Chatsworth rehabilitation unit at Mansfield Community Hospital. 40 people crowded into the ward day room, including patients (one in bed, six in wheelchairs), family members, former patients and many staff.
Facing them were the chief executive of the clinical commissioning group (CCG), the medical director of Sherwood Forest NHS trust and four other senior CCG and trust directors.
The CCG and trust asked to meet with #WeAreAllChatsworth as support for the campaign rapidly grows. They faced a grilling from every corner of the room.
'What will happen to me if the unit closed? Why haven't the trust and CCG worked this out before announcing closure? Where will patients with MS, Parkinson's, brain injuries and similar long-term conditions be treated, with no suitable NHS facilities nearby?'
None of these points were answered. The panel was forced to confront the patients' and families' refusal to lie down quietly and workers' passionate defence of their patients.
Ward leader Tom Hunt asked why the trust didn't hang on. Instead of making cuts, another government could be in power soon with more money for the NHS.
Chairing the meeting, Socialist Party Jon Dale asked for assurance that no staff members would face disciplinary action for participating in the campaign. If any such action were taken, he assured the trust, Chatsworth would turn from a local into a national issue.
- Join our Save Chatsworth demonstration on 2 September. Assemble 11am at Mansfield Community Hospital followed by a rally at 12noon at Butter Cross Square
- Messages of support to: [email protected]
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 23 August 2017:
What we think
Coordinate the strikes to defeat the Tories
Socialist Party news and analysis
Glasgow jannies win famous victory against council cutters
Bin workers - fighting back wins!
Hundreds evacuated after Labour council dismisses cracks in tower blocks
Amazon tax halves as revenues soar - nationalise now!
Workplace news and analysis
RMT and the Labour Party affiliation debate
Defiant Barts NHS workers fight to stop Serco sabotage
Three-week Argos distribution strike
BA poverty pay dispute enters new phase of action
McDonald's workers vote to walk out in historic strike
Bin workers say: Sack Suez, stop rubbish cuts!
PCS: strikes to defend jobcentres
Fighting the far right
US: neo-Nazi violence reawakens resistance
Lewisham 1977: When socialists and workers defeated the far-right National Front
Opposing the National Front in Grantham
Socialist Party feature
The Single Market: a neoliberal tool of the bosses
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Chatsworth ward campaigners demand answers
Vital women's services under threat
West Midlands Young Socialists fight for free education on results day
NHS campaign receives Labour Party backing
Socialist readers' comments and reviews
Mutinies and strikes: when Bolshevism threatened British bosses
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