A series of events is planned tomorrow to mark the national day of action against the proposed restructuring of the NHS. This follows a week in which the Royal College of Nursing voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion of no confidence in Health Minister Andrew Lansley, and PM David Cameron has called a ‘pause’ in the restructuring, presumably until after the local elections are safely out of the way.
The peaceful protest gathering will take place outside the Centenery Building of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on Saturday 16 April at 1pm, and it is in support of the NHS.
The protest will continue into Lancaster’s Market Square at around 2-2.30pm for a mass leafletting and an opportunity to sign the petition against the restructuring proposals, which are considered by many to be a dismantling of the NHS in a move towards a privatised health system. The proposals are the brain child of the health minister, who apparently has been working on them for seven years, although they did not appear in any manifesto. Indeed, the tory manifesto has always contained pledges to safeguard the NHS, pledges now in tatters as thousands of nurses face redundancy.
At 4.30pm. Dr David Wrigley, speaker from the BMA will be speaking at the Friends Meeting House about why the BMA opposes the government restructuring proposals.
Let’s make this event huge. it’s our NHS, our lives depend on it and we need to fight for it.
www.keepournhspublic.org
Sign the 38 Degrees petition against NHS cuts and privatisation at:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/Protect_our_NHS_Petition#petition