“The austerity years of underfunding, coupled with the decades-long drive to privatisation, have resulted in what is now the worst performance in the NHS’s history.”
In the countdown to this year’s General Election, the NHS will be one of the most important election issues. It’s an important opportunity for us to demand the kind of NHS we all deserve: A ‘People’s NHS’, writes Tom Griffiths, Keep Our NHS Public
The stakes are high. The Conservative Party’s rule has wrought unprecedented devastation on the NHS. For the future of the NHS, just as for the rest of life in Britain, positive change is crucial. The country desperately needs a change of government, but also needs a radical change of policies, not least on the NHS and social care. But the solutions on offer from the Labour Party have also disappointed.
Labour’s message is that the NHS needs ‘reform’, and that the call for urgent funding is the simplistic demand of ‘some on the Left’. It argues that the NHS is wasteful and inefficient, that staff are reluctant to put patients first and ‘modernise’.
Labour’s promise to offer an open door to the private sector is especially troubling.
They are mirroring arguments made by the Conservative Government that the NHS model is irreparably flawed. They are wrong.
What is sorely needed is the political will to re-establish a national NHS that is publicly funded and delivered, and universally accessible again. The NHS must be funded to extend its capacity, to be there to meet patients’ needs, and to be more open and accountable.
The crisis grows
Every week 500 people are dying avoidably from delayed urgent care. Tens of thousands have died from over 7 million delayed tests and treatments affecting over 6 million people.
The austerity years of underfunding, coupled with the decades-long drive to privatisation, have resulted in what is now the worst performance in the NHS’s history. Demoralised, underpaid staff are leaving in their thousands and public satisfaction with the NHS is dangerously low. It does not have to be this way.
But let’s be clear, the NHS model has not failed – the Government has failed the NHS
The NHS, when funded for need and not defunded for ideological reasons, was and will again be one of the best health systems in the world. During most of the last 75 years, the NHS has consistently delivered some of the best healthcare outcomes in the world and was ‘best in class’ up to 2015 data (reported 2017).
Keep Our NHS Public is therefore calling for a restoration of the ‘People’s NHS’. It is a call to act before it’s too late.
We have produced a set of demands, with the evidence to support them, to enable campaigners to argue positively for a restored NHS.
We demand: Restore the People’s NHS
1) A publicly provided NHS with a commitment to end private healthcare involvement
2) An NHS funded to succeed, not defunded to fail.
3) An NHS workforce that is respected, with restored morale and its value recognised through decent pay & conditions.
4) A Public Health service rebuilt to lead the protection and restoration of the nation’s health and the tackling of health inequalities.
5) A rebuilt NHS, restored and expanded; enabled to tackle health inequalities and help deliver a healthy population.
Read more about our vision for the NHS here.
The political choice at the general election is stark: the government of the last 14 years simply has to be removed. But the parties hoping to form a new government must adopt radically different policies to earn the electorate’s vote.
Nowhere is that more clear than in the NHS. But there is an opportunity in the run up to and during the election, to help the electorate to see behind the misinformation from those in government, on opposition front benches and the right-wing media. It’s a chance for us to challenge all politicians who are asking for our vote.
Providing the tools to win the debate.
We hope the call to Restore the People’s NHS will become a rallying point for campaigners, those politicians who do agree with us, and the unions – and will enable and empower us all to win the debate.
We are producing a huge range of materials all available for free:
- Free leaflets and postcards.
- Full-colour 44 page Restore the People’s NHS booklet which includes a detailed breakdown of our demands, powerful myth-busting information, tips and advice for campaigners and much more.
- A growing list of People’s NHS Factsheets which provide the fact-checked arguments to win the arguments.
- Campaigning tools, including messaging guides, suggestions for campaigning online and in your local communities, as well resources for working with the press, social media graphics, and more.
We know the NHS model is second to none. But it requires urgent funding, an end to private interests exploiting and undermining the NHS, and a restoration of a national service, comprehensive and available to all, promoting health and health equity, and delivering high quality, safe clinical care for physical and mental health. The country cannot afford not to have a well-functioning NHS – the funding can and must be found.
The NHS was built successfully at the most difficult of times, in the aftermath of World War II. With the right political will a restoration of the People’s NHS can and must be achieved.
- Tom Griffiths is the Head of Campaigns for Keep Our NHS Public.
- You can read more about Keep Our NHS Public’s vision for our NHS here.
- You can keep up with the work of Keep Our NHS Public on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
Weownit is also doing a pledge for the NHS.
https://weownit.org.uk/pledgeforthenhs