September update
Consultants and Junior Doctors are still being forced to take strike action for pay restoration. Sadly, there has been no movement from the Government over the summer. It seems that NHS workers (and other public sector workers) are expected to take a pay cut while the usual suspects just get richer (there are many examples but fossil fuel company shareholders and CEO's come to mind).
We will be showing solidarity and standing with NHS workers on the picket lines once again in September and October.
Join us on Wednesday 20th September between 11-12 midday at the Sussex County for a Solidarity Event!
If you're not able to come to the picket line then, it helps if you can be 'vocal' in your support for NHS strike action. Many media outlets are trying to blame NHS strikes/NHS workers for the increasing waiting lists and missing of care targets. We know (especially from picket solidarity over the summer) that public support for the Dr's action is strong and solid. Keep that going!
Consultants and Junior Doctors are still being forced to take strike action for pay restoration. Sadly, there has been no movement from the Government over the summer. It seems that NHS workers (and other public sector workers) are expected to take a pay cut while the usual suspects just get richer (there are many examples but fossil fuel company shareholders and CEO's come to mind).
We will be showing solidarity and standing with NHS workers on the picket lines once again in September and October.
Join us on Wednesday 20th September between 11-12 midday at the Sussex County for a Solidarity Event!
If you're not able to come to the picket line then, it helps if you can be 'vocal' in your support for NHS strike action. Many media outlets are trying to blame NHS strikes/NHS workers for the increasing waiting lists and missing of care targets. We know (especially from picket solidarity over the summer) that public support for the Dr's action is strong and solid. Keep that going!
Here’s the BMA statement
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said:
“The Government has once again imposed a savage real terms pay cut on consultants. When inflation is running at more than 11%, this is nothing short of insulting. Consultants have always been clear that industrial action is a last resort but in the face of a Government intent on devaluing consultants’ expertise and their lack of regard for the impact this is having on the NHS, we have been left with no choice. “We’ve had our pay cut year after year, put our lives on the line during a pandemic and now are managing a record backlog of care. The Prime Minister says cutting these waiting lists is a priority but then undermines his own policy by showing he doesn’t value those charged with delivering it. Cutting pay once again shows the Government’s complete disregard for the profession.
“Meanwhile, there can be no better demonstration of the need to reform the pay review system for doctors than our pay review body, recommending a further real terms pay cut on top of the successive pay cuts over the last 15 years, at a point when the profession has been pushed to take industrial action and are leaving the NHS. “There is now no longer any doubt about the supposed ‘independence’ of the pay review body – with even a Conservative backbencher finally admitting last week that the Government ‘basically rig’ the process.
“This “final offer” and flat refusal to engage in further talks has left us with no option but to continue our action. We have therefore announced further strike dates in August and will announce further dates in due course. We will have always tried to give as much notice of dates as possible in order to help our colleagues prepare and minimise the impact on patients. But the Government must also understand that we will continue to stand up for consultants and, if necessary, are in this for the long haul. More than 80% of consultants in our ballot voted for industrial action and this week’s announcement will only strengthen their resolve.
“Consultants are the NHS’s most experienced, highly-skilled clinicians, and are responsible not just for providing specialist care to patients, but also leading entire services and training the doctors of the future. The future of the NHS depends on there being consultants within it, but attacks on their pay will drive them away – from the health service and from the country – with devastating consequences.”
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said:
“The Government has once again imposed a savage real terms pay cut on consultants. When inflation is running at more than 11%, this is nothing short of insulting. Consultants have always been clear that industrial action is a last resort but in the face of a Government intent on devaluing consultants’ expertise and their lack of regard for the impact this is having on the NHS, we have been left with no choice. “We’ve had our pay cut year after year, put our lives on the line during a pandemic and now are managing a record backlog of care. The Prime Minister says cutting these waiting lists is a priority but then undermines his own policy by showing he doesn’t value those charged with delivering it. Cutting pay once again shows the Government’s complete disregard for the profession.
“Meanwhile, there can be no better demonstration of the need to reform the pay review system for doctors than our pay review body, recommending a further real terms pay cut on top of the successive pay cuts over the last 15 years, at a point when the profession has been pushed to take industrial action and are leaving the NHS. “There is now no longer any doubt about the supposed ‘independence’ of the pay review body – with even a Conservative backbencher finally admitting last week that the Government ‘basically rig’ the process.
“This “final offer” and flat refusal to engage in further talks has left us with no option but to continue our action. We have therefore announced further strike dates in August and will announce further dates in due course. We will have always tried to give as much notice of dates as possible in order to help our colleagues prepare and minimise the impact on patients. But the Government must also understand that we will continue to stand up for consultants and, if necessary, are in this for the long haul. More than 80% of consultants in our ballot voted for industrial action and this week’s announcement will only strengthen their resolve.
“Consultants are the NHS’s most experienced, highly-skilled clinicians, and are responsible not just for providing specialist care to patients, but also leading entire services and training the doctors of the future. The future of the NHS depends on there being consultants within it, but attacks on their pay will drive them away – from the health service and from the country – with devastating consequences.”
Are we happy with NHS privatisation?
A bit of a trick question! Our supporters know that Sussex Defend the NHS opposes NHS privatisation in all it's blatant and creeping forms. We just wanted to alert you to the fact that not everyone feels this way and it's a big discussion topic for the NHS again. Many people think 'going private' will 'help' the NHS (spoiler: unfortunately it won't. Lot's of discussion around these topics in The Lowdown).
Even more unfortunately, as we head towards a General Election next year, many on the 'left', including the Labour Party, are seeing privatisation/private companies as part of the solution to the current NHS crisis. As always, we fully support the campaign and petition from We Own It: Starmer: Reinstate Our NHS as a fully funded public service!
A bit of a trick question! Our supporters know that Sussex Defend the NHS opposes NHS privatisation in all it's blatant and creeping forms. We just wanted to alert you to the fact that not everyone feels this way and it's a big discussion topic for the NHS again. Many people think 'going private' will 'help' the NHS (spoiler: unfortunately it won't. Lot's of discussion around these topics in The Lowdown).
Even more unfortunately, as we head towards a General Election next year, many on the 'left', including the Labour Party, are seeing privatisation/private companies as part of the solution to the current NHS crisis. As always, we fully support the campaign and petition from We Own It: Starmer: Reinstate Our NHS as a fully funded public service!
NHS workforce plan
The long awaited NHS workforce plan has been published. It contains a few ideas on how to manage the more than 100,000 NHS vacancies, but absolutely nothing about pay.
The Government is either pulling out of pay talks or using sad 'divide and rule tactics' over some staff accepting the measly pay offer to completely discredit the NHS and its staff.
We continue to stand by NHS workers taking industrial action.
The long awaited NHS workforce plan has been published. It contains a few ideas on how to manage the more than 100,000 NHS vacancies, but absolutely nothing about pay.
The Government is either pulling out of pay talks or using sad 'divide and rule tactics' over some staff accepting the measly pay offer to completely discredit the NHS and its staff.
We continue to stand by NHS workers taking industrial action.
The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it
Massive thanks to everyone who came to the Threads of Survival quilt exhibitions and who celebrated / marked the NHS 75th Birthday on 5th July. Please keep showing your support for NHS workers taking strike action for fair pay and the NHS!
The amazing Brighton Threads of Survival quilts and the NHS scroll have been on display in Brighton for over a week now. They are a moving testimony to the founding principles of the the NHS and the love people have for it and also a call to action as they highlight where the NHS is being failed. As many have said, if we want to have the NHS for another 75 years then we need to be out campaigning for it.
Our Defend the NHS T shirts say (via Nye Bevan) "The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it". That's us. And you!
We were outside ONCA gallery on Wednesday 5th for the NHS birthday where more than 100 people signed anti-privatisation birthday cards that are going to our local MP's.
The photo below is of Prof Rob Galloway, A&E consultant, delivering a moving Birthday Speech which will be on our Instagram page soon. Some press coverage here.
Massive thanks to everyone who came to the Threads of Survival quilt exhibitions and who celebrated / marked the NHS 75th Birthday on 5th July. Please keep showing your support for NHS workers taking strike action for fair pay and the NHS!
The amazing Brighton Threads of Survival quilts and the NHS scroll have been on display in Brighton for over a week now. They are a moving testimony to the founding principles of the the NHS and the love people have for it and also a call to action as they highlight where the NHS is being failed. As many have said, if we want to have the NHS for another 75 years then we need to be out campaigning for it.
Our Defend the NHS T shirts say (via Nye Bevan) "The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it". That's us. And you!
We were outside ONCA gallery on Wednesday 5th for the NHS birthday where more than 100 people signed anti-privatisation birthday cards that are going to our local MP's.
The photo below is of Prof Rob Galloway, A&E consultant, delivering a moving Birthday Speech which will be on our Instagram page soon. Some press coverage here.
Threads of Survival quilt
The Threads of Survival quilt project started in Brighton and Hove in March 2023. It is part of a national Threads of Survival campaign started during lockdown. 30 quilts have been made in other parts of the country. Our Brighton and Hove quilt and all the others produced are very much in the tradition of radical quilt-making like the famous B&H Guernica quilt.
In the intervening months since March when the project was launched 43 squares have been made by people from across Brighton and Hove and beyond. An amazing result. Issues raised by the squares - NHS in danger, privatisation, NHS worker pay claims, mental health, Covid, Solidarity, NHS waiting lists, staff shortages, love of and support for the NHS etc. Sussex Defend the NHS have agreed to be the guardians of the quilts/banners. There are future plans for its use.
The exhibitions around the NHS birthday in Dorset Gardens and ONCA have been organised in conjunction with the inspirational NHS scroll. Since the scroll was started nearly 3,000 people have signed it and it is getting on for 100 m long. The Threads of Survival exhibitions are inspirational events in the midst of all the gloom.
The Threads of Survival quilt project started in Brighton and Hove in March 2023. It is part of a national Threads of Survival campaign started during lockdown. 30 quilts have been made in other parts of the country. Our Brighton and Hove quilt and all the others produced are very much in the tradition of radical quilt-making like the famous B&H Guernica quilt.
In the intervening months since March when the project was launched 43 squares have been made by people from across Brighton and Hove and beyond. An amazing result. Issues raised by the squares - NHS in danger, privatisation, NHS worker pay claims, mental health, Covid, Solidarity, NHS waiting lists, staff shortages, love of and support for the NHS etc. Sussex Defend the NHS have agreed to be the guardians of the quilts/banners. There are future plans for its use.
The exhibitions around the NHS birthday in Dorset Gardens and ONCA have been organised in conjunction with the inspirational NHS scroll. Since the scroll was started nearly 3,000 people have signed it and it is getting on for 100 m long. The Threads of Survival exhibitions are inspirational events in the midst of all the gloom.
SOS NHS Demo: End the NHS Crisis - Support the strikes
Photos of the National Demo on 11th March https://keepournhspublic.com/sos-nhs-demonstration/
Photos of the National Demo on 11th March https://keepournhspublic.com/sos-nhs-demonstration/
We support striking health workers
Nurses aren’t paid nearly enough. In the last ten years all NHS staff have suffered a drop of 20% in real terms. That’s a drop of £4,300 for nurses and £5,600 for paramedics. 1 in 6 nurses are forced to use a food bank. We support the health workers’ call for a decent pay rise NOW and for the future.
We know the NHS is unsafe for staff and patients
Wards and departments are understaffed. There are currently 155,000 unfilled vacancies, and 40,000 staff left the NHS last year so there’s a skill shortage too. There aren’t enough ambulances or ambulance workers to reach all the patients who need help. Bed occupancy levels average at 95% so when ambulances reach hospital, patients can’t be moved into A&E and then there are further delays before admission. Millions are waiting for diagnostic tests. 7 million people are on a waiting list for hospital treatment, and 1 million for non-hospital treatment. People are dying because of these conditions. Unless health workers are given a real pay rise, none of these problems can be solved.
A strike by health workers is a strike for the survival of the NHS
The governments of the last decade have deliberately underfunded the NHS every year. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact and completely in line with their treatment of all public services. They have cut 20,000 beds since 2012, they’ve sold off small hospitals, left 34 hospital buildings in a state of collapse. They abolished the bursary to train nurses and forced detrimental contracts onto junior doctors so now 1 in 4 plan to leave when they are trained. In the last decade they’ve cherry-picked and privatised, doubling contracts in the private sector to £9.6bn. They shamelessly abused the Covid crisis to line the pockets of cronies supplying testing and PPE and awarded £10bn to profit-making private hospitals to do surgery.
It doesn’t have to be like this: Solidarity!
Health workers can’t go on struggling to make a living and working in unsafe and demoralising conditions. Patients and those waiting for treatment can’t go on fighting anxiety and pain in this creaking system. The government is out to destroy the founding principles of the NHS and we have to join forces to face it down. That’s why we at Sussex Defend the NHS are calling on everyone, including workers fighting injustice on the railways, in Royal Mail and in education to show their active solidarity with health workers.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
defendthenhs@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/SussexDefendTheNHS
Nurses aren’t paid nearly enough. In the last ten years all NHS staff have suffered a drop of 20% in real terms. That’s a drop of £4,300 for nurses and £5,600 for paramedics. 1 in 6 nurses are forced to use a food bank. We support the health workers’ call for a decent pay rise NOW and for the future.
We know the NHS is unsafe for staff and patients
Wards and departments are understaffed. There are currently 155,000 unfilled vacancies, and 40,000 staff left the NHS last year so there’s a skill shortage too. There aren’t enough ambulances or ambulance workers to reach all the patients who need help. Bed occupancy levels average at 95% so when ambulances reach hospital, patients can’t be moved into A&E and then there are further delays before admission. Millions are waiting for diagnostic tests. 7 million people are on a waiting list for hospital treatment, and 1 million for non-hospital treatment. People are dying because of these conditions. Unless health workers are given a real pay rise, none of these problems can be solved.
A strike by health workers is a strike for the survival of the NHS
The governments of the last decade have deliberately underfunded the NHS every year. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact and completely in line with their treatment of all public services. They have cut 20,000 beds since 2012, they’ve sold off small hospitals, left 34 hospital buildings in a state of collapse. They abolished the bursary to train nurses and forced detrimental contracts onto junior doctors so now 1 in 4 plan to leave when they are trained. In the last decade they’ve cherry-picked and privatised, doubling contracts in the private sector to £9.6bn. They shamelessly abused the Covid crisis to line the pockets of cronies supplying testing and PPE and awarded £10bn to profit-making private hospitals to do surgery.
It doesn’t have to be like this: Solidarity!
Health workers can’t go on struggling to make a living and working in unsafe and demoralising conditions. Patients and those waiting for treatment can’t go on fighting anxiety and pain in this creaking system. The government is out to destroy the founding principles of the NHS and we have to join forces to face it down. That’s why we at Sussex Defend the NHS are calling on everyone, including workers fighting injustice on the railways, in Royal Mail and in education to show their active solidarity with health workers.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
defendthenhs@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/SussexDefendTheNHS
You'll see from our picket line photo montage that many RCN nurses were striking for a better NHS - for the kind of NHS that doesn't think it's ok to treat patients in corridors (or charge them for attending a GP or A&E).
We have been Defending the NHS since the disastrous 2012 Health and Social Care Act but are aware from questions and conversations that not everyone is up to speed with what is currently happening in the NHS and what we mean when we say things like 'founding principles' or 'publicly accountable'.
If you want to find out a bit more then there are excellent resources around - see our Links page - Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) has great information, as does The Lowdown.
We have been Defending the NHS since the disastrous 2012 Health and Social Care Act but are aware from questions and conversations that not everyone is up to speed with what is currently happening in the NHS and what we mean when we say things like 'founding principles' or 'publicly accountable'.
If you want to find out a bit more then there are excellent resources around - see our Links page - Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) has great information, as does The Lowdown.
How do we stop privatisation in the NHS?
We are taking part in We Own It's 'End NHS Privatisation, Save Lives' campaign.
The campaign highlights new research showing that privatised services in the NHS have led to excess deaths...
We believe the conflicts of interests within NHS Sussex (our Integrated Care Board) remain unresolved and alongside We Own It, we will be calling for the Board to make more pledges to safeguard NHS services from privatisation and to bring any privatised contracts back in house.
Please sign the We Own It petition https://weownit.org.uk/end-nhs-privatisation-save-lives
We are taking part in We Own It's 'End NHS Privatisation, Save Lives' campaign.
The campaign highlights new research showing that privatised services in the NHS have led to excess deaths...
We believe the conflicts of interests within NHS Sussex (our Integrated Care Board) remain unresolved and alongside We Own It, we will be calling for the Board to make more pledges to safeguard NHS services from privatisation and to bring any privatised contracts back in house.
Please sign the We Own It petition https://weownit.org.uk/end-nhs-privatisation-save-lives
Map of Privatisation and 'Rebuild the NHS'
The indefatigable Every Doctor UK have produced a 'living map' of privatised NHS services in England. Really helpfully they have included services that are run by charities and the not-for-profit sector (but not General Practice) that are commissioned by the NHS. We agree with their statement: "this systemic move to provide NHS services by non-NHS providers disrupts health infrastructure and fragments the service. As a publicly funded public health service, we strongly believe the NHS should be entirely funded, run and delivered by the public sector".
So, in Brighton and Hove you'll see that this includes Here - the not for profit social enterprise that has a contract to provide some well being services and most of the musculo skeletal services (MSK) within the city. This is why you'll see most GP practices on the map for Brighton & Hove. Do have a look at the map - we'll be highlighting this privatisation, and others at our May stall.
We'll also be using information and leaflets from We Own It who have launched their 'Rebuild the NHS' campaign - asking us to write to local Integrated Care Systems and Boards (ICB) (coming in to effect in July) to demand that private companies are kept out of the ICB's. Naturally our local ICB has pledged they won't be having any private companies on their board...but given non-NHS organisations are already deeply into our local structure, we aren't holding our breath. It is definitely worth as many people emailing as possible - so do look at both these campaign resources.
The indefatigable Every Doctor UK have produced a 'living map' of privatised NHS services in England. Really helpfully they have included services that are run by charities and the not-for-profit sector (but not General Practice) that are commissioned by the NHS. We agree with their statement: "this systemic move to provide NHS services by non-NHS providers disrupts health infrastructure and fragments the service. As a publicly funded public health service, we strongly believe the NHS should be entirely funded, run and delivered by the public sector".
So, in Brighton and Hove you'll see that this includes Here - the not for profit social enterprise that has a contract to provide some well being services and most of the musculo skeletal services (MSK) within the city. This is why you'll see most GP practices on the map for Brighton & Hove. Do have a look at the map - we'll be highlighting this privatisation, and others at our May stall.
We'll also be using information and leaflets from We Own It who have launched their 'Rebuild the NHS' campaign - asking us to write to local Integrated Care Systems and Boards (ICB) (coming in to effect in July) to demand that private companies are kept out of the ICB's. Naturally our local ICB has pledged they won't be having any private companies on their board...but given non-NHS organisations are already deeply into our local structure, we aren't holding our breath. It is definitely worth as many people emailing as possible - so do look at both these campaign resources.
SOS NHS!
SOS NHS is a new national coalition of NHS workers, campaigners and trade unions. Many groups are coming together to say, 'the NHS is in crisis right now' and these, briefly, are the 3 key demands:
SOS NHS is a new national coalition of NHS workers, campaigners and trade unions. Many groups are coming together to say, 'the NHS is in crisis right now' and these, briefly, are the 3 key demands:
- Emergency funding now to save lives this winter.
- Invest in fully publicly owned NHS.
- Pay staff properly; reduce staffing shortages.
Stop the Health and Care Bill 2021
We are in tough times... but it is heartening to see the role that campaigning has recently had in defeating some of the worst amendments of the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill. Our focus turns to the Health and Care Bill 2021, also currently going through the Lords, and which also needs defeating.
Stop the Merger
There is an active campaign by staff, governors and patients to stop the merger of Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead with University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex). A meeting is being held this week after the news that NHS England/Improvement have gone against the wishes of staff and patients and imposed this merger. They are concerned about the loss of the Specialist Services at this hospital - which covers patients in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. It is an all too familiar story...
Sussex Defend the NHS has expressed our concern over the mergers that resulted in UHSussex - resulting in damning verdicts from both staff and the CQC. Please support the Support Our Specialist Services QVH campaign!
We are in tough times... but it is heartening to see the role that campaigning has recently had in defeating some of the worst amendments of the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill. Our focus turns to the Health and Care Bill 2021, also currently going through the Lords, and which also needs defeating.
Stop the Merger
There is an active campaign by staff, governors and patients to stop the merger of Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead with University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex). A meeting is being held this week after the news that NHS England/Improvement have gone against the wishes of staff and patients and imposed this merger. They are concerned about the loss of the Specialist Services at this hospital - which covers patients in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. It is an all too familiar story...
Sussex Defend the NHS has expressed our concern over the mergers that resulted in UHSussex - resulting in damning verdicts from both staff and the CQC. Please support the Support Our Specialist Services QVH campaign!
