Organising for the NHS: respond to the consultation

Felicity Dowling writes: The NHS came from campaigning and small-scale health provision organised by the trade unions – especially the miners, from working class women’s groups like the Cooperative Women’s Guild, together with the early Labour party, Independent Labour Party, Cooperative and Communist parties. It’s going to take such organisation again, deep in our communities, to win it back.

This Government has brought forward the worst of Blairism, to continue the drive towards privatisation and financialization, whilst people suffer.

Still the NHS provides brilliant lifesaving and life-affirming care, day by day, despite its many faults. Streeting has set up a consultation on the next ten years of the NHS in England and individuals as well as organisations can contribute to this. Please can comrades act on this urgently. We have till December 2^nd to send in responses. Access the submission form here.

1. Raise this in your union branches, and get an organisational response sent in. If you can affect the national union get them to do so too.
2. Contribute to Left Unity’s response. Send in ideas to info@leftunity.org and if there is interest we will organise a zoom on this.
3. Send in an individual response, and encourage others to do the same.
4. Where you are part of a group – even if it seems remote from NHS issues – see if you can get a response. Keep our NHS Public has a guide here, and encouraging people to submit.

Suggestions: Be aware that moving services out of hospitals is not a universal good. Don’t be afraid to be harsh about privatisation and under-funding Do include personal stories.

Felicity Dowling is Co-National Secretary of Left Unity