Student nurses demonstrating, London 2.12.15, photo Paula Mitchell

Student nurses demonstrating, London 2.12.15, photo Paula Mitchell   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Stop the Tory cuts

Fight to save our NHS

Juliette Fogelman

The last few weeks has shown what can be achieved when workers stand together. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt was forced, at least temporarily, to abandon his plan to impose unfair and unsafe new contracts on hard-working junior doctors because of their determination to take strike action.

Junior doctors genuinely care about providing the quality of care that we, the public, need. So Hunt should watch out if he tries to force through these contracts at a later stage. Junior doctors have shown they are prepared to fight to save our NHS!

Student nurses

Next in the Tories’ firing line are the student nurses who our understaffed NHS so badly needs.

Osborne has lifted the cap on recruitment but is introducing what can be described as a ‘nurse tax’. Bursaries are going to be scrapped and new student nurses will have to pay for their own training through loans.

Nurses are underpaid for the life-saving work they do and now they will begin their career in debt, if they are not put off training altogether!

In his Autumn Statement George Osborne committed to increase NHS funding. However, this actually represents the largest sustained fall in NHS spending as a share of GDP (economic output) since 1951! Moreover, Osborne wants £22 billion ‘efficiency savings’ ie cuts, by 2020.

There has also been spending cuts to the Department of Health budget affecting vital public health services such as sexual health, vaccinations, etc. This shows the stupidity of Osborne’s approach as cutting prevention or early intervention services leads to further pressure on our NHS in the future.

Last year the NHS faced a huge winter crisis with delays to operations and increases in waiting times. Unfortunately this winter it will be the same, or worse.

Social care

The lack of spending on social care is also a huge factor compounding the NHS crisis. Lots of people, many elderly, are stuck in hospital because there aren’t the social care packages in place to allow them to leave. This leads not only to a lack of beds but means people remain in hospital when they want to be at home.

The government is keen to privatise our NHS services to their profiteering corporate friends. But in Cambridgeshire, a five-year £800 million NHS out-sourcing contract has ended after just eight months because the company running it said it was not “financially sustainable”.

The Tories are out to destroy our health service but health workers, unions and the public must fight together to save it.