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Dear Supporter,
Welcome to our July newsletter
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Victory for NHS Campaigners as CCG U-turns on Privatisation Decision
July kicked off to a promising start after it was revealed that NHS campaigners had successfully forced a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to U-turn on its decision to privatise the running of two urgent treatment centres.
Halton CCG planned to award a contract to run the two centres - estimated to be worth £25m – to private healthcare company, One Primary Care.
This decision was made by Halton CCG in spite of the fact that both centres were already being run by NHS providers Warrington and Halton Hospitals Foundation Trust and Bridgewater Community Healthcare Foundation Trust.
The decision was opposed by both of the Trusts as well as an array of NHS campaigners, trade unionists, local GPs and local Labour MP, Mike Amesbury.
Halton eventually U-turned on the decision in response to popular pressure and the threat of legal action.
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NHS England Announces New Partnership With Amazon's Alexa
The beginning of the month also saw the Department for Health and Social Care announce that NHS England had entered into a data sharing agreement with Amazon. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, stated in a government press release that the data sharing agreement would allow Amazon's Alexa technology to scan the NHS website in order to answer user queries with NHS validated information.
The move was also praised by the Health Secretary as being a step forward for those who were traditionally unable to access the NHS website, such as the elderly and visually impaired.
However, the National Health Action Party (NHAP) immediately pointed out that the data sharing agreement had been undertaken by the government without the consent of parliament or the public.What is more, we also made the case that the agreement looked like a first step towards the selling off public data - data which should serve the public first and foremost - to US technology companies in order to facilitate a post Brexit trade deal.
At the time the NHAP believed this to be incredibly likely given the current Health Secretary's chequered history of supporting companies such as Babylon Health, and their GP at Hand app, despite the clear evidence of the damage the app is having on general practice.
Unfortunately our analysis was proven to be correct, and not long after the government announced its intention to begin "sharing" NHS data with private tech companies.
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NHS Data Sharing: Another Expropriation of a Public Good
In response to the government's announcement that it will be putting in place a new data sharing framework to facilitate the sharing of NHS data with private companies, we here at the NHAP pointed out that there were significant dangers of doing so.
One of the dangers we pointed out was that technology companies are structurally reliant upon venture capital, and as a consequence they have a long and chequered history of making grandiose claims in order to attract investment, but which never pan out in reality. The second point we made was that public institutions and actors working in the best interests of patients needed to be equipped with the know how to assess the degree to which technology companies are really offering the health service innovative technologies and services.
You can read the full article here.
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Boris Johnson: What Now
On the day that Boris Johnson was declared Prime Minister of the United Kingdom the NHAP predicted that Johnson would attempt to push for a hard Brexit.
We predicated that Johnson knew that the European Union would not - and cannot - budge on the issue of the Irish backstop. We also noted that there is still no majority for a hard Brexit within parliament. However, our assessment - and one which increasingly looks to have been validated - was that Johnson was aware of this would indeed use parliament's resistance to a hard Brexit as a pre-text to call a general election.
It is now abundantly clear that this is indeed the Prime Minister's plan. However, the NHAP maintains that if Progressive and Anti-Brexit parties work together the Conservatives can be defeated.
You can read the full article here.
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Billions in Capital Spending Promised by Ministers is Failing to Hit the Frontline
Before the issue of capital spending was thrust into the public spotlight after the Prime Minister's pledge of a fresh funding for capital spending was revealed to be a lie, the Health Service Journal reported that a series of capital projects approved by the Department of Health still had not received funding promised by the government.
Specifically, the report revealed that of the 143 requests for funding that had been approved, only 20 of those schemes had actually received any cash.
You can read the full article here.
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End Austerity Now! Protest the Tory Party Conference
On the 29th of September the Conservative Party will host its annual conference in Manchester. At that conference we can be sure to hear the same old line - and lie - that austerity is over.
If you want to let the Tories know that you don't buy their lie and that enough is enough, its time for an end to failed austerity and the privatisation of our public services then please consider joining the People's Assembly protest.
The protest will take place at Oxford Road, Manchester, Sunday 29 September from 12:00 to 16: 00
For more information please visit the event's Facebook Page
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National Health Action Party Calls Out Boris Johnson on His NHS Funding Lies
The National Health Action Party recently called out Boris Johnson on his lies that the £1.8bn in “new” funding that he announced for the NHS after it was revealed that over half of the £1.8bn cash injection was the result of the Department of Health and Social Care's u-turning on a cut they had sought to implement only a month before.
The cut in question was made by NHS England and called upon NHS Trusts to cut their capital spending plans by 20 per cent. The demand that NHS Trusts cut their capital spending plans was made National Health Service England (NHSE) finance director Julian Kelly wrote to Trusts warning them that the Department of Health and Social Care was at the brink of exceeding a Treasury mandated capital expenditure limit.
Meaning in turn that Boris Johnson’s then announcement that the money represented new funding for the NHS was in fact a lie. Dr Helen Salisbury, Spokesperson for the National Health Action Party, speaking to LBC’s Tom Swarbrick called out the Prime Minister on these untruths, “Not only is the money not new, but it’s also a drop in the ocean compared to the 18.2bn per year that we were promised on the side of a bus”.
Dr Salisbury went on to say, “nor is it going to be of much use when compared to the actual capital expenditure deficit that we’ve currently got; we’ve got crumbling hospitals and six billion worth of repairs waiting to be done because NHS Trusts have been consistently told by successive Conservative governments that they’re not allowed to spend any money. This money isn’t going to sort it out”.
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Mental Health Crisis Summit: Saturday 28th September Royal Free Hospital, London
There is a crisis in mental health services in the UK
It's time to act.
Almost 7000 mental health nurses were lost from 2009 to 2018. Meanwhile, the number of doctors in specialist psychiatric training fell by 20%, and beds available for patients with serious mental health issues fell by over 8000.
That's why Health Campaigns Together is holding a one-day conference in September this year to take a closer look at the mental health crisis - what's driving it, how government decisions have let it worsen over time, and what action we can take to set things right.
WHEN: Saturday 28 September 10am - 5pm
WHERE: Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine,
Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF
(nearest tube Belsize Park, Northern Line)
Tickets:
Unwaged/Low Pension: £5.00
Standard: £10.00
Solidarity: £20.00
If you're having difficulty paying and would still like to attend, please contact us at nationaladmin@keepournhspublic.com, and we can sort out a free ticket.
Speakers
So far we are going to be joined by Jonathan Ashworth MP Shadow Secretary for Health (tbc), Ken Loach film director (tbc), Diane Abbott MP Shadow Home Secretary (tbc), Lowkey musician and activist (tbc), Ian Hodson National President BFAWU, Dr Louise Irvine Health Campaigns Together, Dr Vic Chapman from the Royal Free, Cath Wakeman OBE trauma therapist, Dr Nihal Fernando Consultant Psychiatrist, and many more...
Check out the Facebook event here
Event is hosted by
https://www.healthcampaignstogether.com
https://keepournhspublic.com
https://mentalhealthtimeforaction.org
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Thank you for your support
With best wishes as always,
Dr Louise Irvine, on behalf of the NHA Team.
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