1,500 March in Huddersfield

Huddersfield DemoFOR THE second time in four weeks, the people of Huddersfield
gathered on 14 January to oppose the Calderdale and Huddersfield Health
Trust’s plans to transfer hospital services out of the town.

Iain Dalton, Huddersfield Socialist Party

The plans include transferring gynaecology and children’s wards, the
special care baby unit, consultant-led maternity services and in-patient
elective surgery to Halifax, whilst transferring emergency surgery the
other way and closing a smaller local hospital.

30,000 signatures on petitions and floods of letters were handed into
the Trust.

 Then the massive demonstration – of 1,500 local people – sent a
message to the self-interested Trust bosses.

The protesters were determined that their services should not be
ditched to prop-up the failing PFI hospital in Halifax. Indeed, one
Conservative Party councillor blamed this privatisation of the health
service for these cuts, a bit hypocritically since this was, and still
is, Tory policy.

1,500 March in HuddersfieldSeveral councillors have attended this and the December demonstration
to ‘show their support’ for the Save Our NHS campaign. However, Kirklees
council still won’t give the people of Huddersfield the right to decide
themselves in a referendum, claiming they cannot afford it.

However, the NHS trust can ‘afford’ these unelected bureaucrats to
make their decisions against the democratic will of the people they
affect. Mike Forster, a local trade unionist and Socialist Party member,
told the crowd how, "If the money spent on the trust bosses’ salaries
was spent on the services, this would write off the Trust’s current
debt, fully fund all the services that are to be transferred and leave a
surplus."

Although the supposed consultation period is finishing, local GP and
Socialist Party member Dr Jackie Grunsell told the crowds: "We can still
make the Trust listen to the people of Huddersfield, because the final
decision won’t be made until March. Because the council refuse to hold a
referendum, we will make the up-coming local elections a referendum on
these proposals".

Other Socialist Party members were also active on the demonstration,
supporting the campaign’s efforts and selling 57 copies of the
socialist.


Wakefield and Pontefract

THE CAMPAIGN to retain all local health services and secure fully
publicly funded new hospitals reaches its climax in the Wakefield area
soon. As part of a centralising plan, Pontefract’s acute General
Infirmary will be reduced to a mere 45 – 120 beds – a glorified
out-patients department.

Mark Harrison, Pontefract Socialist Party and Mick Griffiths, Wakefield and Pontefract Hospitals UNISON (personal capacity)

Services will be cut drastically and hundreds of jobs affected. Acute
services for the Pontefract area would be shifted a further nine miles
away.

The hospitals’ Trust management have started an informal so-called
‘engagement’ process which, we believe, will try to muddy the waters and
cover up the extent of the proposed cutbacks.

Wakefield Trades Council organised a lobby of New Labour MP Yvette
Cooper’s surgery on 13 January, to highlight local trade unionists’
concerns about attacks on our public services. We are calling for a
public referendum on the issue.

Our campaigning activities are receiving an excellent response and we
are confident that a mass broad campaign of resistance will develop.

The decision to build downsized privately funded new hospitals is
expected on 1 July. We will continue our decade-long fight to secure a
fully retained and publicly funded service with petitioning,
demonstrations and lobbies against the health authority, local MPs and
councillors.


Socialist Party

Defend Pontefract Health Services

Speakers:

Adrian O’Malley (Wakefield & Pontefract Hospital UNISON)

Dr Jackie Grunsell (Leading campaigner in Huddersfield Save Our
Services campaign)

Maria Thompson (Wakefield & Pontefract Hospital UNISON)

Public Meeting Monday 23 January

7:30pm

Pontefract Squash and Leisure Club, Stuart Road, Pontefract.


  • Fight all cuts in the NHS. No to redundancies.
  • Rebuild the NHS as a service free at the point of use. For a publicly
    funded NHS with immediate cash to end the crisis of under-funding and to
    stop cuts and closures.
  • End health privatisation. Scrap the Trusts. Bring health management
    and medical services under democratic control.
  • Unite the many campaigns already in existence to defend the NHS. For
    a national demonstration to build support for industrial action.