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Voicing fears over future of the NHS
MP for Blackpool South Gordon Marsden
RESORT residents have added their voices to thousands of others concerned by proposed changes to the NHS.
Members of campaign group 38 Degrees handed over a petition of 260,000 UK signatures to Gordon Marsden MP for Blackpool South at his constituency office in response to the growing concerns surrounding changes to the National Health Service.
The petition, which includes 250 signatures from people living in South Shore, calls for a halt to the reforms being imposed by the Government, and says the coalition risks breaking up the health service and handing it to private healthcare companies.
It also claims David Cameron’s Government has not listened to doctors, nurses and patients when they have expressed doubts about the plans, and they have been rushed through without testing them properly first.
Bob Bradley, who organised the petition in Blackpool, said: “These rushed policies spell the end of the NHS as we know it and are totally irresponsible. The NHS is very important to me and it’s something we have that nobody else has.
“I had a heart attack and nobody acted better than Blackpool Victoria Hospital to save my life.”
Mr Bradley added: “What worries me is like everything else in business people will say they don’t want it because it’s making a loss.
“The Government need to listen to the experts doing these jobs.”
Gordon Marsden said he will write to the health secretary Andrew Lansley to outline the points made in the petition.
Mr Marsden told The Gazette: “The petition is an illustration of the deep concern about the wholesale shake up of the NHS.
“We have to remember in Blackpool, because of our older population and more people with disabilities, it’s important we have a proper strategy.”
The Government said a review was needed as increased life expectancy, the rising cost of drugs and public health challenges – such as growing levels of obesity – could leave the NHS facing a multi-billion pound funding shortfall unless action was taken.
Conservative MP Paul Maynard for Blackpool North and Cleveleys also received a petition from the campaign group.
He said: “I do understand people’s concerns, but we should not forget this Government has protected health spending from the cuts, when Labour were keen to cut the NHS.
“Government spending on health as a percentage of the overall state budget is actually increasing.
“When I met with nurses we discussed the difficulties of ensuring community healthcare and care in hospitals can be better joined up as more and more people locally have chronic conditions that we want to manage in their own homes.”
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Comments
There are 22 comments to this article
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mum_of_the_boys
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 10:10 PMwright_mary20,i used to work at the pychy unit at withington hospital for a bit.
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Holloway's Head Honcho
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 12:35 PMI think we could all agree that there will always be room for improvement in an organisation as big as our NHS. That said, I really need to urge caution to anyone who sees the current legislative proposals as a mild tyding-up exercise; they are not: they will result in the end of the National health Service as we know it. The Government wants to convert the role of the NHS from provider of health care services into a funder of treatment to be provided by big US-style private companies, in effect, a state insurance provider. These private companies are licking their lips at the prospect of getting stuck into a share of the £80billion which the government will make available to them through bidding for cherry-picked services. There will be no requirement whatsoever for these 'for-profit' companies to be involved in the rigorous training which the NHS curently provides through its Teaching Status hospitals and its close links with universities. No, only the lucrative sections of healthcare provision will be picked off by these profiteers. Furthermore, the government wants to end the status of the NHS as 'preferred provider', instead opening up bidding to 'any willing provider'. This could be Bupa, Asda or even B&M healthcare as any man and his dog will be free to bid for services currently provided by the NHS. And the most insidious aspect of all of this is that HM Government will be using the EU to introduce its competition rules, for the first time since the NHS was created in 1948, to allow these parasitic entities to acquire huge sums of public money. And, these competition rules will be irreversible! Finally, even when we remove any party political prejudice or spin and ask ourselves whether this new system would actually work, the answer is an empahtic NO! Who says so? The British Medical Association, The Royal College of Surgeons & Physicians, The Royal College of Nurses, The Royal College of Midwives, the Health Service Journal... the list is endless. So, I would urge all members of the public to contact their local MP to ask whether they will be supporting this Parliamentary bill or not. Just remember that NO political party contained these proposals in its election manifesto. This is a fact.
thelostdot
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 02:16 PMI'm not from Blackpool, and I worked in the NHS in the North West Thames area, where I trained. I don't think the reforms will be perfect, though there is supposed to be no reduction in services, just a reorganisation of how they are provided. I expect, to be quite honest the Conservatives to try to pull a "fast one", and try to reduce the services in the process. They will need to be tidied and cleaned up by Labour afterwards, but the changes are good ones, and will hopefully stop the empire builders and endless managers. I remeber while training, being on a ward while two of us slogged trying to provide good services to the elederly patients. We couldn't with just two of us they were terrible services. While we did three managers, and one unqualified (but caked in make-up and fluttering her lashes) who were basically discussing what we were doing, chatted. This would never happen in the private sector, and it is utterly shameful. I am incidentally well qualified, and left to pursue more moral and lucrative disciplines. I certainly wouldn't want to go near this kind of immoral setup, that is so common in the NHS again. It is backed up by crooked politicians who don't really want to know what is really going on as like as they're alright jack.
Nothappy
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 12:46 PMYou can sum up this Tory policy in a few words if you can't afford it you will go to the bottom of the pile, what a fair society we are entering into, not.
john01234
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 09:36 AMComment removed by moderator
Grecian2000
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 03:42 AMJustice for Charlene Downes.
cardy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 10:52 PMJust seen inflation running at 4.5% now if the Tory Government are telling us the truth about the NHS and protecting it, surely they will cover these extra costs to the service..... Dont hold your breath
cardy
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 08:43 PMWhere to begin under this Government Blackpool Victoria Hospital may loose its trust status, theatres which are currently being built will not be used,waiting lists are getting longer,the standard of hygiene are falling.If the hospital gets paid for turning out a service believe you me the service will be like a Mc Donalds get them in and get them out as fast as possible and dont worry about the outcomes.As for immigrants notyetavet I think you will find that these immigrants come from Europe and guess which party took us into that moneypit? Just as a final reminder about how worrying these proposals are even the limp debs are threatening to boycott them so perhaps they may not be as wonderful as cameron makes out
aandrews
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 07:58 PMPrpare to queue.
scientia-est-potentia
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 07:34 PMWell said comment 10 the lost dot you said it all
eton rifles
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 05:55 PM" I can sum up my priorities in three letters NHS" Cameron in run up to the election. Eton`s summary on Camerons actions in three words " Liar Liar Liar"
thelostdot
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 05:52 PMThis is one of the few things the Conservatives have done that I actually believe in. I used to work in the NHS and I can only say how rotten, riddled with corruption, bungs and dishonest I found it. Huge prices paid for all kinds of nonsense, pointless middle managers everywhere spending thier time doing little but looking important, pointless schemes. Good staff treated like dirt because they didn't creep as well as those who were poor at thier jobs, so a terrible, inefficient and grossly expensive service. We pay for the NHS, this will mean consumers patients being first instead of last, for people who are so secure in thier jobs they can trot out any old rubbish. And don't forget all that prevention nonesense that nobody ever pays any attention to it. Currently I get almost no care for my illnesses with the NHS, it just doesn't bother, the reforms will mean that if they don't provide a service they won't get paid.
war baby
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 05:35 PMThe Whole of the Country should be signing petitions ,against these LIARS . United We Stand -Divided We Fall.
alitriumph
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 05:22 PMI have had to contact Gordon Marsden on a number of occasions. It is fair to say we did not always see eye to eye. What I can say is, he always responded, always gave me feedback, and he hasn't been a sitting MP for as long as he has by ignoring people. Unlike his Tory predecessor Nick Hawkins. At what point are all these moaners going to stop blaming Labour for absolutely everything? Like the nurse said, she worked through a few Tory governments, they never did anything for the NHS. The Tories will never be happy until everyting is in the private sector and the books are balanced. The human suffering that comes with that is of no concern to them. Hopefully, now that the alliance is crumbling, they will not see out a full term
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