Monday 30th September 7pm The Marquee, Piccadilly Gardens
Our NHS would be up for grabs in trade deals after Brexit and under World Trade Organisation rules. It’s our NHS and we have to fight together for it – against international deals and UK- based profiteers.
Come and hear how you can play a part in supporting our NHS:
- Heidi Chow Senior campaigns manager, Global Justice Now – the threats to our NHS from international trade deals.
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- Representatives of local workers in UNISON, fighting for decent conditions under privatised welfare service
- Chaired by: Caroline Bedale, Greater Manchester Keep Our NHS Public –how local services have been privatised and the campaign to fight it
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Stalls and educational materials from Global Justice Now; Health Campaigns Together; We Own It; Docs Not Cops
Discussion with invited participants from WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together in Greater Manchester); Docs Not Cops.
https://www.healthcampaignstogether.com/handsoff.php
Greater Manchester Keep Our NHS Public
We are a local group of campaigners who want a publicly provided NHS, free from profit and privatisation. We are from many different backgrounds, but we are united in concern for our NHS. We campaign for it to be a publicly owned, publicly funded and publicly provided healthcare service, free from the profit motive.
We meet monthly at Partisan, 19 Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester, M4 4FY – on the second Thursday of the month, 1.30-3.30pm – to discuss resistance to cuts/privatisation of the NHS and social care, reviewing the previous month and planning future activities. We take part in national events, support and organise local actions. Please come along to ask questions and get information about what’s really happening to our NHS. All Welcome. If you want to save your NHS come and join us
The Extent of Privatisation in Greater Manchester
We have been investigating what proportion of healthcare services paid for by the NHS, which should be provided by the NHS, are actually being done by the private and voluntary sectors. We’ve been shocked to find that in 2017/18 it was over 12% in Greater Manchester, with a high of over 18% in Oldham.
Bolton £44,653,000 12.6% of £353,982,000
Bury £24,982,000 11.5% of £217,709,000
Manchester £87,660,000 12.7% of £690,446,000
Oldham £50,397,000 18.2% of £276,537,000
Rochdale £39,082,000 14.3% of £273,153,000
Salford £33,762,591 9.9% of £340,389,000
Stockport £37,659,000 10.8% of £347,197,000
Tameside £31,546,560 11.1% of £284,943,000
Trafford £29,659,853 10.8% of £274,343,000
Wigan £39,346,603 9.9% of £394,083,000
Greater Manchester £418,748,607 12.1% of £3,452,782,000
Despite devolution in Greater Manchester, which means that Labour Councils have joint control with NHS commissioners over health budgets, private companies still make money out of healthcare. They obviously benefit from the fact that the NHS has not got enough funding and capacity to treat all the people who need treatment when they need it. Private hospitals for acute and for mental health services are being paid £millions throughout Greater Manchester to fill gaps in NHS services, often for relatively simple procedures, such as cataracts, abortion, IVF, leaving the NHS with more complex procedures. Some private providers have found there is a lucrative market in diagnostic and assessment clinical services. GPs have formed companies to provide out of hours services in some districts. NHS services provided by private companies mean our taxes are used to pay for profits to directors and shareholders. Some large voluntary and charity organisations also provide health services. While they don’t make profits or pay dividends to shareholders, their involvement means funding is taken away from the NHS itself and services are fragmented between many providers. The voluntary/charitable sector does have an important role to play in making sure disadvantaged groups have a say in their healthcare and in lobbying for better services, but we believe they should not provide mainstream NHS healthcare services. Only small amounts are paid to local voluntary/charitable groups which give members a local voice.
Crisis in Social Care
As well as campaigning for the NHS, GM KONP is actively involved in campaigning for a complete overhaul of the social care system. Virtually all social care is now run by private companies, whose main motivation is profit not the care of vulnerable elderly or disabled people. Spending cuts forced on local authorities by the Tory government have made things even worse. Service users, their relatives and carers, and social care workers, are all paying for a crisis they did not create. The social care system is broken: it’s not right, it’s not safe, it’s not fair.
Social care should be a universal public service, free to all who need it, run for the benefit of those who rely upon it, with good wages and working conditions for the workers providing it.
Keep our NHS public Greater Manchester 