Tags
Antiprivitisation, Austerity, Barnsley, Campaign, NHS, Politics, Solidarity
The birth of our National Health Service (NHS) was one of the products of the post-WW2 Labour Government headed by Clem Attlee. It’s brainchild, Minister for Health, Aneurin Bevan, envisaged an ambitious umbrella organisation which provided healthcare for everyone in Britain, free at the point of use. This NHS project, and a project it certainly was, was groundbreaking in its foresight and revolutionary in terms of public healthcare provisions globally. Next year (2018) will mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of the NHS – an occasion that will certainly not go by unnoticed despite the fight to save it.
Anenurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the first day of the National Health Service ©Wikimedia Commons
Today, we have an entirely different Minister of Health shovelling the NHS in a direction that the public neither want, nor, can fully get to grips with. Moreover, it is being led in a direction entirely against that which its forefathers had intended. Jeremy Hunt is being reckless with what is ours and continues to implement cuts in order to benefit his Conservative ideals on the most vulnerable within our society.
Over the last few years, it has unfortunately become commonplace to see headlines in the media commenting on the state of the NHS and the harsh and sustained attacks it has received at the helm of the Conservative Government under the cloak of ‘austerity’ measures. Just yesterday the Guardian reported the latest debacle of Virgin Care (owned by multi-billionaire and Tory snuggler, Richard Branson), winning a £700m contract to run 200 NHS and social care services in Bath and North-East Somerset. See article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/11/virgin-care-700m-contract-200-nhs-social-care-services-bath-somerset
The trickle buying of our NHS services is the result of years of financial cuts to health services driving down their ability to perform efficiently and ultimately their monetary value, which, in turn, make assets and services viable for tender from private companies. This is market manipulation. The affects on the people needing care services are not considered and the process in which services are cut are often wrapped up in so much red tape it is incomprehensible to interpret what these changes mean to YOU. Barnsley NHS services and the rest of South Yorkshire are currently in the midst of this process and need your support to fight and protect our NHS from greedy, private, corporate companies. The proposed changes and closures WILL affect YOU and YOUR FAMILY.
Two of our front-line campaigners have written, in brief, what is happening and the consequences:
Nora Everitt
To show the pace of change in OUR NHS in South Yorkshire &Bassetlaw – all services are changing to be cheaper to run – (managers are forced to cut costs as the government have cut the NHS funding from an extra 4% annually (ever since the ’50s) to cover need & developing technology, down to 1% annually for the last 7 years!
Smaller local hospitals will lose services and the ‘hub’ hospitals will become overstretched.
PEOPLE WILL DIE AS A RESULT OF ALL THIS COST CUTTING.
Here’s a list of services LOST already in 2017 and PLANNED CLOSURES together with PROPOSALS TO CLOSE to be achieved within the year – BY SUMMER 2018 OR BEFORE.
1. In Barnsley we LOST our Hyper-Acute Stroke service at the beginning of 2017. This means if you have a stroke – and know exactly the time it began – ambulances will take you to Doncaster, Sheffield or Pinderfields (Wakefield) – depending on where you live in Barnsley (or where you are when your stroke starts). The reason was inability to recruit specialist Stroke consultants in Barnsley.
2. The decision was made in June 2017 to STOP children’s surgery and anaesthesia and overnight stays for some conditions in Barnsley – and other local hospitals. This will BEGIN in the new year 2018. Children will be taken to Doncaster, Pinderfields or Sheffield.
3. The maternity and neonatal services are being reviewed at the moment and the proposal is looking at a HUB and SPOKE service as the preferred option. This will reduce choice for mothers about where to deliver their babies. This is very likely to mean that there will be NO HOSPITAL BIRTHS IN BARNSLEY in the near future.
4. Hospital services for Acutely Unwell Children ARE BEING RECONFIGURED. Similar reasons for all these changes – staffing, skills of staff, safety, expertise used regularly enough to maintain skill level – are used in all of these decisions (never much said about saving money). This change is HAPPENING in Bassetlaw is coping with the proposed model – a Children’s Assessment Unit instead of a Children’s Ward – so there are NO OVERNIGHT STAYS. The proposal there gave reasons of lack of specialist nurses and they forecast two children a night being transferred the 18 miles to Doncaster Hospital. BUT there are often 7 or 8 children transferred overnight – really poorly babies unable to breathe etc. with conditions that fluctuate and rapidly become very dangerous. AND the hospital trust didn’t advertise for new staff – but campaigner’s pressure managed to change that.
5. Access to NHS services OUT OF HOURS GPs is not available in the village of Retford – in Bassetlaw district AT ALL. This service DOES NOT EXIST for these people at the moment.
JUST A SNAPSHOT – THIS IS HAPPENING – NOW
Mike Smith
It’s worth noting that as we lose services which move further away and therefore access as patients, family and friends becomes harder with access by family and friends very possibly impossible due to the costs involved or lack of transport options the only response has been to alter the ambulance response times. In all cases the journey times are not included but it’s bound to be longer due to the extra distances and the road conditions.
Category 3 and Category 4 factor in 10% of patients waiting longer than 2 hours or 3 hours. Currently the ambulance Trusts have consistently failed to meet their targets.
Category 1 is for calls about people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses. These will be responded to in an average time of seven minutes.
Category 2 is for emergency calls. These will be responded to in an average time of 18 minutes.
Category 3 is for urgent calls.These types of calls will be responded to at least 9 out of 10 times before 120 minutes. In some instances you may be treated by ambulance staff in your own home.
Category 4 is for less urgent calls. These less urgent calls will be responded to at least 9 out of 10 times before 180 minutes. In some instances you may�be given advice over the telephone or referred to another service such as a GP or pharmacist.
Campaigns just like Save our NHS Barnsley are running throughout the country. This is a national crisis but you can fight it locally.
Save our NHS Barnsley 