NHS March In London Sees Jeremy Corbyn Blame ‘Tories And Austerity For Crisis’
Thousands of health workers, patients and union members took to the streets in London on Saturday protesting against a “crisis” in NHS funding which Jeremy Corbyn has blamed on “Tories and austerity”.
The Labour Leader posted a video on Twitter today saying that it “can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that our NHS is crisis”, with the exception of Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt and the “rest of the Tories”.
“In the face of all the evidence – patients being treated in hospital corridors, people dying in the back of ambulances, hospitals in dire need of repair- they are refusing to give our NHS the money it needs and needs now.
“The NHS will only survive if we fight for it.”
We must fight for our National Health Service to ensure it is there for our children, our grandchildren and for all the generations to come. #FundOurNHSpic.twitter.com/IkPPFVhyyC
February 3, 2018
Slogans such as “No ifs, no buts, no NHS cuts” were chanted as protesters gathered at Gower Street and shook banners criticising the Health Secretary’s salary. A sculpture of a vulture tearing into the NHS was also displayed.
The event, called ‘NHS in crisis: Fix it now’, was organised by the People’s Assembly and Health Campaigns Together and called on the Government to provide more beds, staff and funds to ease the problems facing the service.
Activists, some of whom were bused in from cities such as Bristol and Nottingham, marched through central London from midday, then held an hour-long rally opposite Downing Street.
We’re on our way from #Nottingham abundant with #solidarity#hope & huge #Love for #OurNHS#FundOurNHS See you all there! pic.twitter.com/8kSsio0lcG
Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary said: “Our NHS is in intensive care, starved of the resources necessary to meet the needs of our ageing and diverse society.”
Actor Ralf Little recalled how his mother suffered a stroke and had been saved by NHS staff for free while his mother-in-law paid thousands for a routine operation in Florida.
He said: “My mother-in-law spent two nights in hospital, had a minor operation, and was discharged two days later. She has excellent insurance so was only presented with a bill for $2,500.
“My mother was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, received expert emergency care, stayed in hospital for two weeks to recover, was treated daily by consultants, physical therapists, occupational therapists and nursing staff, was escorted home in a taxi and checked on three times a day for a further five weeks.”
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth, who attended the demonstration, earlier said: “We should be celebrating the 70th year of our NHS, yet the NHS is going through its worst winter on record. We have a fight on our hands for the future of a universal public NHS.”
Join me and thousands of NHS campaigners as we march for our NHS this Saturday in London. We’ll defend our NHS and demand it’s given the funding needed & privatisation ended. See you there! #FixtheNHS#FundtheNHS@[email protected]/Jvm6xnEQOL— Jonathan Ashworth (@JonAshworth) February 1, 2018
“Meanwhile, brilliant, dedicated staff have suffered year after year of pay misery and are having to do more, with less, for less. ”
Royal College of Nursing president Cecilia Akrisie Anim told the rally: “Nursing staff are bearing the brunt of the enormous pressures facing the NHS.
“Staff at every level are experiencing burnout and many of our colleagues are turning their back on jobs they love. It’s no surprise that nursing staff feel overstretched and undervalued. There are now more than 40,000 nurse vacancies in England alone.
“2018 is 70 years since the formation of the NHS and nurses have always been at the heart of it. Urgent action is needed to address the current crisis – if none is taken, it is our patients who will suffer. We will continue to speak out to defend our NHS.”
We’re ready to go. Please RT for everyone campaigning for the NHS in the rain today.#FundOurNHSpic.twitter.com/HMMEg65xOX
NHS staff deserve so much better than they are getting from Hunt and the Conservatives and that’s a key reason we are at the demo today Please RT if you are here in person or in spirit pic.twitter.com/4xYuzKzYJO
February 3, 2018
Today we march! Together we can save #OurNHS. For anyone who can’t make it, pls join the twitterstorm & post on Facebook using #FundOurNHS between 12-4pm. Share your stories about what the NHS means to you, and why we need to save it from the Tories. pic.twitter.com/J4MYUkPD01— People’s Assembly (@pplsassembly) February 3, 2018
The @gmcuk Duties of a Doctor tell us we must make patient safety our first concern, and to take action if that is compromised. The @nhs is underfunded and understaffed. Patients are at risk every day. We stand in protest and call for better.#SaveOurNHSpic.twitter.com/N8yZJxfMPp— Michael Farquhar (@DrMikeFarquhar) February 3, 2018
Reminder: the NHS crisis is not due to immigrants, or the elderly, or people who drink alcohol, or nurses, or doctors. The crisis has been manufactured by a govt ideologically opposed to the NHS, who have systematically underfunded it for years.#FundOurNHS#FundtheNHS
February 3, 2018
No NHS crisis? The facts speak volumes. It is however, a crisis manufactured by this Conservative govt, who have grossly underfunded the NHS for years, left it dangerously understaffed, cut 15,000 beds, & slashed social care. #FundOurNHSpic.twitter.com/zQAEgkQBFB
February 3, 2018
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nhs-march-in-london_uk_5a75b880e4b0905433b47f31
