“This NHS anniversary weekend Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July, Keep Our NHS Public, Health Campaigns Together, The People’s Assembly Against Austerity and We Own It, are calling for nationwide local events and a national online rally on Sunday 5th July at 3:30 PM to say, ‘Our NHS deserves better’.
Sunday 5th July is the 72nd anniversary of the NHS. It was created in the aftermath of World War II, (a conflict that saw 67,100 British civilians killed) to create something better for us all.
During the coronavirus crisis in 2020, NHS and Social Care workers have been called upon to work on the frontline to keep us safe. They have often had to work without proper resources and PPE, within an already failing system. Many have been forced to sacrifice their lives. In the UK we have now reached the frightening number of excess deaths linked to coronavirus of 64,000 (up to 28 May 2020), the second-highest death toll in the world. The NHS deserves better, we all deserve better.
This is a damning indictment of recent Government policy and its mishandling of our NHS. When we emerge from this deadly crisis, this can no longer be tolerated. This is also a critical moment when the systemic inequalities in our society are starker than ever. We, therefore, demand an immediate end to the hostile environment, all migrant charging stopped and an urgent investigation into the disproportionate death toll in Britain’s BAME community during this pandemic. Likewise, the many disadvantages placed on disabled people and others with additional needs has never been clearer. We believe this moment gives us a unique opportunity to demand we not only rebuild the NHS but go much further and call for radical reform of social care provision.