The Socialist 21 February 2018

We can save our NHS

Chatsworth ward victory shows we can save our NHS

Tories raid £1bn from NHS facilities budget - unions must act

Blairite mayor faces open election after democratic 'irregularities' - fight for a no-cuts mayor

Facebook sides with state repression - reinstate the Tamil Solidarity page

Like rats from a sinking Ukip

Usdaw victory - Socialist Party member Amy Murphy wins presidential election

Bosses divided - university pension strikes can win!

After 80 strike days Mears workers achieve victory

Newham academies strike continues with three schools to strike together

Northern Ireland talks process paralysed

How can students and young people fight the Tories?

Leicester Uni makes Tory fee tripler David Willetts chancellor - sack Willetts!

South Africa: Ramaphosa is a safe pair of hands for capitalism

Russia: Ali Feruz, journalist and human rights activist, freed from jail

Building the campaign against clearances of the working class

Northants council crisis - protesters demand an end to cuts and privatisation

Victory: Pontllanfraith leisure centre saved

Save Salford nurseries!

Labour councillors push through savage cuts in Kirklees budget

May Day, May Day! Celebrate solidarity!

Bradford protests against kids' service cuts

Successful Socialist Party Wales conference sets tone for the year ahead

Tremendous determination on show at West Midlands conference

Lively discussion at East Midlands Socialist Party conference

Nottingham hospital black alert

Cardiff Refugee Rights gig success

Outrageous sentence for TUSC agent in 'misleading electors' court case

German engineering strike puts shorter week on agenda - but could have won more

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Tories raid £1bn from NHS facilities budget - unions must act

Save our NHS, photo Paul Mattsson, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Josh Asker, Southampton Socialist Party

For the last four years the government has been delving into the NHS maintenance budget to fund everyday running of services. This year that figure comes in at £1 billion, wiping out in one stroke the £506 million capital investment announced by Phillip Hammond in his autumn budget.

And this month the Times found that Boots the chemist charged the NHS £1,579 for a pot of moisturiser available for just £1.73 elsewhere. Selling medicines to the NHS is a lucrative business, with billions made every year by the big pharmaceutical companies.

The NHS is breaking down and crumbling in front of our eyes. This is something workers in St Mary's Hospital in west London would attest to after part of their first floor and ceiling collapsed in September. Urgent investment is needed to maintain, repair and upgrade NHS infrastructure.

For a health service being run at its limits the consequences of faults and damage can be catastrophic. Technical failures were one of the factors leading to record numbers of A&E patients in England being diverted to other hospitals in the last week of December.

"They are running it down so they can sell it off!" is a common refrain from workers stopping at Socialist Party campaign stalls up and down the country. If there is any question over motivation for this, look no further than Unite the Union's 2014 report detailing 71 coalition government MPs with financial interests in private healthcare.

Private interests must be removed from every part of the NHS - including by nationalising the big pharmaceuticals. There needs to be a massive investment in the health service - to not only provide services today, but build the infrastructure of the future.

These demands are on the lips of most health workers and patients. A determined campaign, including strike action, led by the health unions, would win mass support from the public - and likely mean the end of the Tory government.

Jeremy Corbyn should call for this. The Socialist Party will continue to build and fight for it.

In this issue

Socialist Party news and analysis

Chatsworth ward victory shows we can save our NHS