NHS 70 - demo in Southport

NHS London demo this Saturday - coach from Manchester

Dear all,

March with us this Saturday on our "Free for all, forever" national demonstration in defence of our National Health Service and its staff. The attempts to privatise Wigan hospitals' staff, the ongoing cuts, the conditions faced by health-workers, the inadequacy of the extra money - all of these are among the reasons to march this Saturday! So, join us!

We have a coach going from Manchester city centre, 6.30am beside Chorlton Street Coach Station and getting back there about 10pm, tickets are £25 waged (cost), £30 solidarity or £10 unwaged. To book your place email me back with what ticket rate you'd like and your phone number. Multiple bookings welcome and tickets are paid cash on the day.

Cheers,

Hugh Caffrey,
Secretary,
Greater Manchester Keep Our NHS Public.

Wirral - NHS 70 Birthday Celebration

London NHS demo 30 June - travel from Liverpool

Here are details of travel from Liverpool for the NHS demonstration in London on 30 June which PCS is supporting:

Keep Our NHS Public has booked a coach leaving from the Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BP at 7.00am on Saturday 30 June.

Tickets cost £20 waged and £10 unwaged and are available now from News from Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY.

PCS NW office will circulate further travel information and details of local demonstrations as and when they receive them.

Join the 100th week of fighting for Chorley A&E

Ban the Hunt!

A nurse practices her greeting
for the Health Secretary

A message from Wirral TUC:

Come and greet Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt when he visits Liverpool to address the annual conference of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Date: Thursday, 12 October 2017.

Time: 8:00 am.
Place: Arena and Convention Centre, Kings Dock, Liverpool, L3 4FP - main entrance, between the conference centre and the Jury’s Inn Hotel.

We need as many people as possible for a short period to welcome Mr Hunt and to leaflet delegates going into the meeting. Bring banners, placards, etc.

NHS Protest 'In The Spirit Of The Suffragettes'

Taken from a press release by the Merseyside Pensioners Association:

On Tuesday April 11 The Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA) will be leading a chorus of protest in the spirit of the suffragettes before the meeting of the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The MPA is calling on all Merseysiders who are alarmed at continuing cuts in NHS services to join them in the protest. Please assemble with your banners and posters outside the Lewis's building, Renshaw Street at 1.30pm.

Chair of the MPA Julie Lyon-Taylor said "Liverpool NHS bosses have given themselves a 50% pay increase as a reward for running down our precious NHS and pensioners are blamed for using too many beds. The reality is that social care has been slashed by the government and many pensioners can't be sent home because there is no care for them in the community. Everyone is suffering because of privatisation and budget cuts. The CCG are a law unto themselves. It is clear in Liverpool they can do as they please and believe they do not answer to anyone. We are determined to raise the issue of the salary increases at the meeting".

Pensioners decided to protest following the outrageous revelation that the CCG chairman Nadim Fazlani got a £50,000 rise. Most of the pay rises relate to the 2014-15 financial year when the chair's salary rose from approximately £105,000 to £155,000. Deputy CCG chairman Prof Maureen Williams saw an increase of at least a third, from £70,000-£75,000 to £100,000 while the chief officer and chief finance officer both received rises of about 15%.

Keep our NHS Public!

NHS demo, London 4 March

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to update you on arrangements for the transport to London for members who want to attend the National NHS Demonstration on March 4 2017, we plan to arrange buses to transport members from Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.

We expect the buses to leave the appointed locations on Saturday March 4 at around 7am to arrive in Tavistock Square London, WC1 in time to assemble at noon, the buses back to the return locations would leave Parliament Square at 5pm, we would expect the journey back to take at least 4.30 hours.

Can any members wanting a place on the appointed buses please notify me on NWRC@pcs.org.uk stating which location you want to depart from by noon on Monday 13 February 2017.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation,

Regards,

Caroline Turner
Regional Organising Officer

Defend Our NHS demo, Liverpool

There is a national event in London on 28 January, but locally Defend Our NHS have organised a HOWL and protest in Liverpool city centre on the same day:

• Saturday 28 January 2017.
• 12.00 midday.
• Outside Primark, 48-56 Church Street, Liverpool L1 3AY.

If you can't attend, why not do a THUNDERCLAP and share your outrage at these attacks on our NHS? Details here.

Please tell PCS ARMS NW if there are any other Save the NHS demos on the North West so that they can be publicised on this blog.

NHS: Victory for Opponents of STPs

TUSC recognises that organisations campaigning against attacks on the NHS can celebrate an important success in preventing almost £1billion of cuts to the NHS on Merseyside under the grotesque Tory misnomer of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs).

Several hundred NHS supporters lobbied the Health and Wellbeing Board on Thursday 1 December at which Chairman Joe Anderson declared the Liverpool City Council’s total opposition to this plan of the Tories to dismantle the NHS in the region and to hand out more contracts to their friends in the private sector.

Mayor Anderson was also asked to give a commitment to oppose the closure of the Women’s Hospital which he did. There was also a call for the Mayor to organise a national assembly of councils to collectively oppose the latest Tory plans to wreck the NHS. This decision represents a step forward by the campaigns to Keep Our NHS Public and to oppose the closure of the Women’s Hospital.

But everybody campaigning against the Tories are fully aware that this fat cats’ government will press on with their attacks on the NHS and on the poor and needy. That’s why TUSC supports the Liverpool TUC in calling on all organisations defending the NHS and opposing Austerity to come together to discuss the next stage of the struggle.

Tony Mulhearn

ARMS NW