Stop NHS cuts, photo Paul Mattsson

Stop NHS cuts, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Liverpool Socialist Party

The much-loved Liverpool Women’s Hospital is still earmarked for closure, under the false flag of ‘moving’ it to the new Royal.

The big-wigs orchestrating this move were forced to admit that they don’t have the money to build a hospital on the new Royal site.

The ‘move’ means closure, and is part of the crisis created by cuts, privatisation and marketisation in our NHS.

Nearly £1 billion is supposed to be cut from NHS services in Merseyside and Cheshire over the next few years, predominantly by shutting hospitals and ‘moving’ services to others.

We are opposed to all of these cutbacks and closures which will be bad for patients, present and future, and bad for staff.

The new Royal was being built by Carillion as part of a private finance initiative contract which guaranteed huge profits to the private companies at the expense of a smaller hospital and other cuts.

Labour politicians pushing this scheme claimed it was the ‘only show in town’. Of course it wasn’t, it could have been built in-house far better for far less.

Campaigners from Keep Our NHS Public were attacked by these Blairites who bear the blame for the disaster zone that is the new Royal site.

Carillion’s collapse means no building work is being done. It can’t be continued by the public sector without undoing the outsourcing mess – which is what should happen.

All private finance initiative schemes and pro-market measures should be cancelled, and all outsourced contracts be brought back in-house, with no compensation given to fat cats.

Join the march for the Women’s Hospital: Saturday 22 September, assemble 12 noon outside the hospital at Grove Street/Upper Parliament Street.

We say:

  • Our NHS should be brought into democratic public ownership, together with related industries such as pharmaceuticals
  • Fair pay for NHS staff, reopen pay talks!
  • Renationalise the NHS as part of a democratic socialist plan for health and social care!