With the Houses of Parliament behind then, members of Lambeth Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) celebrated the 77th birthday of the NHS onWestminster Bridge with a message to the government to fund the NHS properly and to turn back from the relentless privatisation of its services.
“Wherever we look in Lambeth, from blood tests to cataract operations to joint replacements, we are seeing NHS services contracted out to the private sector,” said KONP.
“Even the local Camberwell renal dialysis unit, which was provided for patients by Guy’s and St Thomas’, has now been passed over to a private provider, owned by a global health company based in Abu Dhabi.
“The profits from these services are filling the pockets of shareholders across the world, and they are taking resources and staff away from our hospitals and community services.
“The new 10-year NHS plan that has just been announced fails to stop this and opens the door to more of our health becoming a commodity that big companies can make profits from.”
Lambeth KONP said the NHS was established on principles of being publicly provided and being free to all.
“Many of the Windrush generation and others who came to the UK in the 1940s and 50s came to help staff the NHS, which needed a massive influx of nurses, doctors, caterers, porters etc if it was going to succeed,” the campaign said.
KONP said that NHS founder, minister of health Aneurin Bevan, said in 1948 that “it will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”.
It added: “We thank, support and honour all staff working in the NHS and will continue to campaign to stop privatisation.”
