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- 158Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 7th October 2022
Health campaigners call for full maternity services to be restored to South Tyneside District Hospital after death of baby girl - 157Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd October 2022
Coroner questions safety of midwife-led birthing centres after death of baby girl following failings at South Tyneside District Hospital - 156Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd October 2022
Healthcare safety investigators make recommendations after death of baby girl - 155Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd October 2022
Family tell of heartbreak after baby girl dies following failings at South Tyneside's birthing centre - 154Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th June 2022
Save South Tyneside Hospital Campaign group to hold protest against continued closure of Midwife Led Birthing Centre - 153Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th June 2022
Save South Tyneside Hospital group stage protest over continued closure of birthing unit as South Shields MP raises issue in Parliament - 152Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th May 2022
South Shields MP to raise future of birthing unit at South Tyneside District Hospital at Prime Minister's Questions - 151Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 7th November 2021
Campaigners raise concerns over private funding of new Integrated Diagnostic Centre at South Tyneside District Hospital - 150Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 14th September 2021
'Staff pressures' blamed as South Tyneside Hospital temporarily sends expectant mums to Sunderland - 149Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th July 2021
Save South Tyneside Hospital campaigners turn out in rain to protest against ‘downgrading’ of children’s A&E - 148Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 9th June 2021
Boris Johnson was asked to block controversial changes to South Tyneside hospital - 147Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th July 2020
St Clare's campaigners say chances of bringing palliative care back to Jarrow have 'vastly improved' after 'positive' talks - 146Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th May 2020
EMMA LEWELL-BUCK: Testing and contact tracing are nowhere near the levels needed - 145Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 28th February 2020
Petition to bring palliative care back to St Clare's building to go to Downing Street with over 13,000 signatures - 144The Guardian | 19th January 2020
Bed shortages leave Sunderland patients to sleep overnight in A&EThe continued downgrading of services at both our hospitals (Sunderland and South Tyneside) including the closure of beds, has created this terrible situation where there is no bed capacity despite the allocation of "extra" emergency beds. Remember a lot of that "extra" capacity was consumed with the closure of beds at Palmers Hospital, Primrose Hospital and of course St Clare's. - 143Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 2nd December 2019
Health chiefs to improve how they 'sell' midwife-led birthing unit at South Tyneside Hospital as numbers 'lower than planned' - 142Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 15th November 2019
South Tyneside Hospital campaigners bid to overturn health service changes at Court of Appeal - 141Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th September 2019
South Shields MP's delight as hospital campaigners have Court of Appeal date confirmed - 140Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 27th September 2019
Like-for-like replacement of St Clare's Hospice in South Tyneside is 'not a credible option' say NHS chiefs - 139Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 25th September 2019
Future of hospice care to replace St Clare's up for discussion by South Tyneside health chiefs - 138Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 16th September 2019
Save South Tyneside Hospital group handed legal lifeline - 137Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 15th September 2019
Court of Appeal grants fresh challenge over closure of services at South Tyneside Hospital - 136BBC Tyne and Wear | 13th September 2019
South Tyneside Hospital shake-up protesters win right to appeal - 135Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 28th August 2019
Victory in sight for Rothbury Hospital campaigners in three-year fight to save hospital beds - 134Open Democracy | 4th August 2019
A war of attrition against hospital services in South Tyneside and across the country - 133Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 31st July 2019
Changes to children and maternity services at South Tyneside District Hospital - What you need to know - 132Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th July 2019
New legal challenge vow over South Shields and Sunderland hospital changes - 131Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 29th July 2019
High Court documents reveal why judge backed changes to South Tyneside and Sunderland hospital servicesAs far as Judge Raeside's comments go, they refer only to the process of consultation with which we disagreed. The people of South Tyneside - via the SSTHC legal case - still have the right to further their legal case and challenge the decision of Judge Mark Raeside QC, and to this end we are disappointed at the 7 month delay in obtaining the formal written judgement from the High Court in Leeds.
The judicial review case was brought in order to challenge the decision of Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group and South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group to reconfigure services at South Tyneside Hospital. We challenged the reconfiguration and downgrading of our children's 24/7 A&E, the downgrading of our full maternity service, the closure of our Special Care Baby Unit, and the closure of our stroke services as being unlawful, and sought an order from the High Court that the decisions be quashed and that the CCGs rethink their plans.
It has been our intention to apply for permission to appeal the court's judgement since the hearing in December 2018. We think it is unacceptable that the CCGs and NHS Trust have decided to implement their changes on August 5th 2019, when they were fully aware of the claimant's intention to appeal the court decision. The relevant papers will be lodged in the Court of Appeal imminently.
Regarding the Trust's comment on stroke:
It seems to us inappropriate to compare the quality of the stroke service with the quality of other services. Children attending the local A&E have the same rights to a safe quality service as any other patient, and now with the closure of the overnight children's A&E it will put families and their children at considerable risk when accessing this service at their local hospital, or they will be forced to travel further, thereby increasing the risk for urgent cases. We think that the loss of full maternity services and our Special Care Baby Unit will mean further risks to expecting mothers in South Tyneside. The stroke service would be just as excellent if they had adopted the option to keep stroke rehabilitation services and beds at our hospital so that hundreds of people would still have local access to their loved ones while receiving treatment. - 130Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 23rd July 2019
Save South Tyneside Hospital Campaign submit two petitions against potential money-borrowing deal - 129Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 20th July 2019
'Do the right thing' - Protesters and South Shields MP call on councillors to refuse loan for South Tyneside Hospital 'downgrade' - 128Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 18th July 2019
RECAP: 'Climate emergency' declared in South Tyneside, hospital petition lodged and protest staged at South Shields town hall full council meeting - 127Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 7th July 2019
Plans for South Tyneside and Sunderland councils to borrow £50m to fund controversial hospital changes slammed by MP - 126Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 24th June 2019
'I wish we'd fought harder' - Families share devastation over changes to children's emergency care at South Tyneside District Hospital - 125Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 27th May 2019
South Tyneside's poorest communities missing out on extra 15 years of healthy life - 124Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 24th May 2019
'Why play Russian roulette with lives?' - How mums reacted to changes to South Tyneside's maternity services - 123Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 24th April 2019
Campaigners aim to create new hospice for South Tyneside after giving up hope on saving St Clare's - 122Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 18th April 2019
Thousands sign petition asking for St Clare’s Hospice in Jarrow to be reopened - 121Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 9th April 2019
'Support our local hospital' - Gazette readers back South Tyneside health services - 120Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 9th April 2019
Health chief reveals 'last-ditch bid' to save South Tyneside’s St Clare’s Hospice - 119Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 12th March 2019
'I will continue to fight' - South Shields MP calls for more clarity over future of South Tyneside Hospital - 118Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 8th March 2019
Campaigners want questions answered after NHS chiefs reveal future vision for South Tyneside District Hospital - 117Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 31st January 2019
Future of St Clare's Hospice raised in Parliament as town's MP fights for care to continue - 116Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 29th January 2019
Three walk-in services will close as overhaul of urgent care in Sunderland is approved - 115Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 29th January 2019
'We listened to the public' say Sunderland health chiefs as they agree to close three walk-in services - 114Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd January 2019
St Clare's Hospice: 45 staff made redundant following closure - 113Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 4th January 2019
St Clare's Hospice back in business for patients after closure - 112Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 19th December 2018
Revealed: The 'galling' amount private consultants were paid to reorganise NHS services in North East - 111Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 12th December 2018
Save South Tyneside Hospital campaigners urge supporters to join them at a vigil outside of hospital - 110Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th December 2018
St Clare's Hospice confirms chief executive is 'no longer with' the charity - 109Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th December 2018
Hospital trust boards approve merger between Sunderland and South Tyneside - 108Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd December 2018
Date set for legal challenge to South Tyneside and Sunderland ‘Path to Excellence’ hospital plans - 107Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th October 2018
Health chiefs sitting on £13million repairs backlog at South Tyneside Hospital - 106Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th October 2018
Health bosses say ‘nothing is off the table’ for future of emergency care in South Tyneside and Sunderland - 105Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 26th October 2018
Councillors want to know what benefits there are in hospital service shake-up - 104Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 26th October 2018
Health boss reassures patients as hospital trusts merger win NHS backingSSTHC request the evidence on Ken Bremner's claims of
unanimously backed plans
for the merger of South Tyneside Health Care Trust with City Hospitals Sunderland.The Save South Tyneside Hospital Campaign (SSTHC) - at its meeting on October 29th 2018 - asked it organisers to prepare a statement condemning the announcement of Ken Bremner CEO of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust when he claimed that he had
unanimously backed plans
, for the merger of South Tyneside Health Care Trust with City Hospitals Sunderland. The meeting, which was representative of the staff and people from all walks of life in South Tyneside, called on him to provide evidence that the claimed 1,000 feedback responses gavebroad understanding, particularly among staff and stakeholders
about the merger. In fact it was pointed out at the meeting of SSTHC that a survey conducted by Unison in the Hospital registered overwhelming opposition to the merger, and far from having abroad understanding
, staff were really concerned about the impact on the services they provide in South Tyneside and their jobs in particular. The overwhelming majority were concerned that staff had applied to work in South Tyneside and have no desire to work in Sunderland Hospital.Roger Nettleship Chair of SSTHC said:
Ken Bremner also tried to reassure patients that hospitals in Sunderland and South Tyneside will 'absolutely continue to exist’ as the merger of two NHS trusts moves a step closer. But unless he can provide the evidence for his 'unanimously backed plans' to merge how will anyone believe his reassurances, and what kind of NHS and 'Path to Excellence' will be created in South Tyneside and Sunderland? This is why we will continue to fight for our hospitals and hospital services and are already taking the fight into the court on December 18th over the downgrading of the children's A&E, maternity and stroke services, which will seriously undermine health care in South Tyneside and Sunderland.Unison has conducted a proper survey of its members in South Tyneside District Hospital and according to their representative:
UNISON received over 400 completed surveys back. The majority do not want to merge. The few that say 'yes' to the merge still have major concerns. The staff have made it loud and clear they don't want to work in Sunderland Hospital. UNISON will be submitting a response to the merger.For further details please download the press release (PDF)
See our response to the announcement of the merger - 103Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 4th October 2018
Emma Lewell-Buck MP: Merger of NHS trusts a 'backdoor to privatisation' - 102Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 27th September 2018
No ‘secret plan’ to close South Tyneside hospital say health chiefs - 101Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 26th September 2018
‘Takeover’ claim as campaigners fear for services at South Tyneside Hospital - 100The Health Service Journal | 17th September 2018
GP to head new cross-CCG leadership team - 99Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th September 2018
Emma Lewell-Buck MP: Judicial Review on health structure strengthens our resolve to retain services - 98Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 21st August 2018
High court grants hospital campaign group green light to launch legal challenge against transfer of services from South Tyneside to Sunderland hospital - 97Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 21st August 2018
South Tyneside/Sunderland hospital merger could be completed by April - 96Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 5th August 2018
Campaign to Save South Tyneside Hospital hits legal battle milestone - 95Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 31st July 2018
11 things you said about merger plan for South Tyneside and Sunderland hospital trustsPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 94Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th July 2018
Consultation starts on plan to merge Sunderland and South Tyneside hospital trusts - 93Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 20th July 2018
'Better hospitals' won't improve health in South Tyneside - health bossWe had perhaps, the best hospitals in the world, we still have very good hospitals despite deliberate and ongoing under-resourcing and service closures. We need to have a comprehensive range of locally accessible health services (from acute & emergency services to mental health and social care) for those times when we inevitably require them.
If everyone was as fit and healthy as is humanly possible, our lives and economy would still be best supported by maintaining widespread, locally accessible, comprehensive health services offering the best quality care equally to everyone. Developing 'better hospitals' will only be possible when the current regime of dismantling and privatisation ends. At the moment we are fighting 'health bosses' to keep the services we have.
CEO David Hambleton presents a classic strawman argument. Our lifestyles, healthy or otherwise, are separate from the need for local, free, high quality, comprehensive health services. - 92Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 17th July 2018
St Clare's Hospice to close service for three weeks due to doctor shortage - 91Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 12th July 2018
Emma Lewell-Buck MP: Health groups’ plans for South Tyneside should be put on holdPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 90Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th July 2018
‘I owe the NHS big time’ - parents celebrate NHS on 70th birthdayPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 89Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 20th June 2018
Health chiefs to make case for further changes to hospital services in South Tyneside and Sunderland - 88Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 13th June 2018
Comedy night on course to sell out for hospital campaign - 87Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 31st May 2018
Emma Lewell-Buck: Why I was proud to host hospital campaigners - 86Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 28th May 2018
Campaigners bring battle to save services at South Tyneside District Hospital to Parliament - 85Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 28th May 2018
Political pundit Kevin Maguire joins fight to protect services at South Tyneside District Hospital - 84Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 25th May 2018
Campaign group calls for judicial review into planned hospitals shake-up - 83Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 23rd May 2018
Council leader says ‘We will have to accept why it has to happen’ during meeting on health trusts merger plan - 82Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd May 2018
South Tyneside and Sunderland health trusts to merge - 81Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd May 2018
Save South Tyneside Hospital campaigners take fight to Westminster - 80Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 17th May 2018
Public urged to have their say ahead of second phase of changes to NHS services in Sunderland and South Tyneside - 79Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 14th May 2018
Stephen Tompkinson to star in South Shields comedy fund-raiser - how to get tickets to join the fun - 78Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 11th April 2018
Councillors 'insulted' over response to concerns about moving hospital services from South Tyneside to Sunderland - 77Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 20th March 2018
Letter over hospital’s future could be sent within the month - 76Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 11th March 2018
MP welcomes block on South Tyneside hospital services changes - 75Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th March 2018
Watchdog unhappy with adequacy of consultation over future of South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals - 74Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 10th March 2018
Famous faces and protesters with banners march through Newcastle for NHS rally - 73Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th March 2018
Health campaigners celebrate decision of tough-talking councillors over Sunderland and South Tyneside hospitals - 72Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th March 2018
Councillors ‘will not be bullied’ by health bosses over future of South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals - 71Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 9th March 2018
Plans to change South Tyneside and Sunderland hospital services set to be referred to Jeremy Hunt - 70ITV Tyne-Tees | 9th March 2018
South Tyneside hospital decision referred to Westminster - 69Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 9th March 2018
Future of hospital services in South Tyneside and Sunderland to be referred to Health Secretary - 68Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 8th March 2018
Health bosses warn lives could be put at risk if changes to hospital services in South Tyneside are delayed - 67Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 23rd February 2018
South Tyneside Hospital decision could be referred to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt - 66YouTube | 21st February 2018
'Path to Excellence' Live Stream - 65Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 21st February 2018
Campaigners' anger as health chiefs vote to move hospital services from South Tyneside to Sunderland - 64BBC Tyne and Wear | 21st February 2018
Health chiefs approve South Tyneside Hospital changes - 63Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 15th February 2018
'Please save South Tyneside Hospital' urges top comedian Chris Ramsey - 62Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th February 2018
Know a health hero? Then make sure they get the praise they deserve - 61Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 31st January 2018
Hospital campaigners in South Tyneside set to hold lunchtime protest - 60Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 19th January 2018
Retired GP forms campaign group for people in Sunderland concerned about future of NHS - 59Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 18th January 2018
South Tyneside and Sunderland hospital chiefs open up potential for organisations to merge - 58Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 16th January 2018
Maternity services are set to be re-opened at South Tyneside District HospitalIn this Gazette article the same executive team responsible for overseeing significant health service closures in our borough (a process they call The Path to Excellence) try to make the reopening of maternity look like the fruition of their work, while simultaneously suggesting that the service is still vulnerable - possibly because closing it is still built into the Path to Excellence. The Sunderland executive inherited a maternity service that was second to none, and one of the best staffed. They are responsible for putting the service at risk. It is the maternity, SCBU staff and their immediate managers who are primarily responsible for keeping the service going by giving the executive team no excuse to close it. They did this under their own initiative by putting together a rota - despite their small team size - covering a period of three months. Most wards only have a rota for one month, but under the circumstances they did not want to give the executive team room to refuse. - 57Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 13th January 2018
Scathing attack on hospital plans as decision day looms - 56Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 16th December 2017
MP joins Save South Tyneside Hospital campaigners in town centre fundraising drive - 55Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 15th December 2017
MP fighting South Tyneside hospital cuts says she won't be bullied - 54Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th December 2017
Birth plans for pregnant women in place say South Tyneside health bosses - 53Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th December 2017
Emma Lewell-Buck: Act now for the sake of our hospital's future - 52Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 14th December 2017
South Shields MP calls for inquiry into hospital shake up plan - 51Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 12th December 2017
Campaigners prepare to take legal action in fight for South Tyneside Hospital - 50Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 11th December 2017
South Tyneside special care baby unit closure 'could have been avoided', insist staff - 49Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 11th December 2017
Council set for showdown with health bosses over temporary closure of baby units - 48Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 9th December 2017
Dad of last baby born in South Tyneside backs hospital campaignersPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 47Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 8th December 2017
Campaigners unite in fight to have maternity services re-stored in South Tyneside - 46Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th December 2017
Councillors demand answers after births temporarily suspended at South Tyneside District Hospital - 45Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th December 2017
Protest planned at South Tyneside Hospital gates over temporary closure of baby unitsPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 44Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 19th October 2017
Emma Lewell-Buck MP: Fight to Save OUR Hospital Services - 43Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 18th October 2017
Top marks for South Tyneside diabetes medical team - 42BBC Tyne and Wear | 17th October 2017
Plans to shut beds at Rothbury hospital put on hold - 41Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 17th October 2017
Transport concerns to be looked at as part of hospital shake-up - 40Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 29th September 2017
Hospital Campaigners Are Set to Stage a Protest March in South Shields - 39Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 23rd September 2017
Letter of the week: Council needs to do more to fight threat to South Tyneside Hospital - 38Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th September 2017
MPs spell out fears over South Tyneside Hospital futurePlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 37BBC Tyne and Wear | 14th August 2017
South Tyneside hospital changes prompt protest rally - 36Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 21st July 2017
Hundreds gather to devise battle plan to save South Tyneside HospitalPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 35Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th July 2017
Stephen Hepburn: Enough is enough: Let's save the NHSPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 34Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th July 2017
Campaigners voice fears over 'downgrading' of South Tyneside's hospitalPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 33ITV Tyne-Tees | 5th July 2017
Anger over plans to move NHS services from South Tyneside to Sunderland - 32Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 9th January 2017
Speak up to save hospital services, campaigners urge the public - 31Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd October 2016
Hundreds take part in first Save South Tyneside Hospital march - 30Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 20th October 2016
EMMA LEWELL-BUCK: Join me in the fight to save our hospitalPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 29Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 17th October 2016
Councillor Iain Malcolm: My side of the story on South Tyneside District Hospital controversy - 28Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 12th October 2016
New committee formed to probe alliance between South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals - 27Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 12th October 2016
Fears as hospital boss announces departure after championing partnership between South Tyneside and Sunderland - 26Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th October 2016
Hospital campaigners urge council leader to back causePlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 25Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd October 2016
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backs Save South Tyneside Hospital campaignPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 24Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd September 2016
Union bosses hit out as hospital moves 'vulnerable' stoke unit from South Tyneside to SunderlandPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 23Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 15th August 2016
Campaigners call for health services to stay at South Tyneside hospital and not move to Sunderland Royal - 22Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 10th August 2016
Rallying call in campaign over the future of South Tyneside HospitalPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 21Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 26th July 2016
Campaigners fear new management structure moves hospitals' merger a step closerPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 20Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd July 2016
Fight to save acute services at South Tyneside hospital continues - 19Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 19th July 2016
Hundreds sign petition over South Tyneside Hospital merger plans - 18Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 6th July 2016
Vigil held over NHS hospital trust's new alliance - 17Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 30th June 2016
Vigil to take place over hospital fears - 16Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 4th June 2016
Save South Tyneside Hospital campaign set up to fight for services - 15Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 18th May 2016
South Shields medics are leading the way in research - 14Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd April 2016
Protest march planned over South Shields and Sunderland hospitals' alliancePlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 13Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 5th March 2016
'We need reassurances over South Tyneside A&E' fears over future of essential hospital department - 12The Nursing Times | 2nd December 2015
Tyneside nursing shortages impacting on hospital care - 11Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 1st October 2015
Jarrow walk-in health centre closes doors for final time in face of fight to save servicePlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 10Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 19th August 2015
Jarrow Walk-In Centre patients take hospital bed to the streets in protest at closure - 9BBC Tyne and Wear | 12th August 2015
Sunderland Hospitals Trust warned over £17m deficit - 8Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 11th August 2015
Sunderland's NHS hospitals look set to be £17.5million in the red within the yearPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 7Chronicle Live (Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror Group) | 27th March 2015
Jarrow protesters to take part in demonstration as they battle to save walk-in centre - 6Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 26th February 2015
Campaigners ‘gutted’ after Jarrow Walk-In Centre closure review is refusedPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 5Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd November 2014
Furious patients slam decision to close Jarrow Walk-in CentrePlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 4Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 22nd October 2014
Private ambulance bill soars to £2.8mPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Sunderland Echo (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 3Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 4th April 2014
New special-care baby unit is now openPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. - 2Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 3rd August 2012
Great divide over South Tyneside life expectancyPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here - 1Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) | 2nd April 2012
Mum's praise for maternity ward staffPlease note that this link was reported as broken on 9th August 2019. It was last confirmed working May 2019. Shields Gazette (JPI Media Ltd, purchased by National World plc in 2021) have possibly moved or deleted this article from their website. The same article can be accessed here
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In both the corporate and independent media, there is now an abundance of articles exposing what is happing to the NHS and why. This section of our website is not intended to be an exhaustive list of media sources, but rather a helpful starting point for your own reading.
Independent / Non-Corporate Media
The Lowdown is a publication with a focus on health care. It aims to provide “evidence-based journalism and research on the NHS.” 
Open Democracy : Our NHS is a sub-domain of Open Democracy and is dedicated to providing a platform for directly reporting NHS news ignored by corporate media. Many outspoken NHS professionals have made use of this platform. 
Public Matters is a blog from Deborah Harrington and Jessica Ormerod, former members of the National Health Action Party. They write various essays that draw links between different public services. The link will take you to their essays relating to the NHS. 
The Canary is an IMPRESS-regulated news platform established in 2015. They have helpfully organised their articles by topic. The link will take you to their articles relating to the NHS.
In this video editor-in-chief - Kerry-Anne Mendoza - discusses the origins of The Canary, and the role of alternative media in general in exposing how the principles that underpin the foundations of public services like the NHS have been eroded, leading to the absurdity of our hospitals being run like businesses.
Evolve Politics is an IMPRESS-regulated news and current affairs website founded in 2015. The link will take you to their articles relating to the NHS. 
Another Angry Voice is the blog site of Thomas G. Clark, started in 2010. We highly recommend his articles for their well researched and insightful content. The link will take you to his articles relating to the NHS. 
Red Pepper is a non-partisan anti-capitalist quarterly magazine that (to some extent) pitches itself as a resource for campaigners. It has published a lot of articles (some very useful) relating to the NHS. 
The Skwawkbox founded in 2009, “is written to try to present information and analysis that will rarely make it into the mainstream media because it doesn't fit their agenda and the narrative they want to present.” The link will take you to their articles relating to the NHS. 
Spinwatch founded in 2005, investigates the way that the public relations (PR) industry and corporate & government propaganda distort public debate and undermine democracy. The link will take you to their articles relating to health issues in the UK and Europe. 
Guardian Articles
Articles by Dr Jacky Davis
Co-author of NHS for Sale - Myths, Lies and Deception
Articles by Professor Allyson Pollock
She has been campaigning against and researching into NHS privatisation for over 20 years, and has written extensively about PFI. She is author of NHS Plc - The Privatisation of Our Health Care
Articles by Dr Youssef-El-Gingihy
Author of How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps
Articles by Dr Kailash Chand
GP and deputy chair of the British Medical Association (BMA).Selected Articles
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Tribune | 10th March 2023
Privatisation is Killing the NHS“More than a decade of privatisation and underfunding has left the NHS on its knees. If we want to preserve a public health service that is free at the point of use and available to all, now is the time to fight for it.” -
Monbiot.com | 8th March 2023
Lying Through Their Teeth“...in one of the richest nations on Earth, ...people are extracting their own teeth, making their own fillings, improvising dentures and sticking them to their gums with superglue, and overdosing on painkillers. ...The policies that brought us to this point are so perverse that they can only be deliberate.” -
Tribune | 1st July 2022
The Latest Tory Privatisation of Our NHS“From today, the Tories' new Health and Care Act will open the door to even more private companies meddling in our healthcare system - it's just the latest step in a slow-motion privatisation.” -
Open Democracy | 7th December 2021
Why can't the UK government explain what its Health Bill will actually achieve?“The real principle of this bill is to make it far easier for the NHS to scale back what it delivers.” -
Tribune | 28th November 2021
The NHS Is Failing Because it’s Not Public Enough“Right-wingers use today's NHS shortcomings to argue that a public health system doesn't work – but its failings stem from decades of pro-market reforms.” -
Open Democracy | 23rd November 2021
Go private for the treatment you need, NHS tells patients“Patients are being refused treatment, discharged too early and pushed towards private referrals, openDemocracy’s largest-ever reader survey has found.” -
The Guardian | 14th September 2021
Multinational care companies are the real winners from Johnson’s new tax“An extra £12bn a year will do nothing to fix the mess of England's privatised care system - but it will benefit big providers” -
Byline Times | 19th May 2021
The Government Wants to Sell Your GP Medical Records - Here’s How to Opt-Out“It is likely that the majority of the population will not be aware of any of this. It will not know that the Government has commanded NHS Digital to instruct their GP to hand over a copy of their lifelong medical history to be sold - because the Government has taken the decision not to tell anyone.” -
Tribune | 5th December 2020
How Thatcher Unleashed the NHS Outsourcing Wave“In 1979, Margaret Thatcher rose to power aiming to build a free-market Britain. One of her first ambitions was NHS reform – and she set in motion many of the process that still undermine the health service today.”This article is a copy of Part-1 of a series of articles originally featured in The Lowdown, which provide a narrative history of NHS privatisation. All articles in the series are as follows:- The History of Privatisation — Part 1 : How Thatcher Unleashed the NHS Outsourcing Wave (1978 - 1988)
- The History of Privatisation — Part 2 : Community Care and the Internal Market (1981 - 1993)
- The History of Privatisation — Part 3 : Enter PFI and Private Clinical Providers
- The History of Privatisation — Part 4 : The Early Days of PFI
- The History of Privatisation — Part 5
- The History of Privatisation — Part 6 : NHS Money Commissions New Private Hospitals
- The History of Privatisation — Part 7 : A Flurry of Contracts and
Reforms
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We Own It | 4th June 2020
The NHS is being systematically dismantled by privatisation“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted in a sudden and dramatic manner how dependent we are as a society on the NHS as a public service. ...However there is no guarantee that the privatisation agenda will not continue after the virus crisis is over. ...This article aims to chart the decades’ long process of the undermining of the NHS which began as far back as 1977.” -
Tribune | 24th March 2020
How Market Reforms Made the NHS Vulnerable to Pandemics“The Lansley Act's conversion of [the] NHS into a system of competing businesses ('trusts') made the UK extra-vulnerable to pandemics...” -
The Guardian | 19th January 2020
Bed shortages leave Sunderland patients to sleep overnight in A&E“Patients have had to sleep overnight in the A&E unit of one of the NHS's biggest hospitals because it is overwhelmed by the number of people needing care, a leaked memo reveals.” -
iNews | 9th August 2019
NHS staff in Bradford go on 'indefinite' strike over 'backdoor privatisation' fears“Hundreds of low-paid hospital staff have voted to strike indefinitely over plans to effectively strip them of their NHS status in what could prove to be a test case over “backdoor privatisation” and the creation of a two-tier workforce.” -
Open Democracy | 4th August 2019
A war of attrition against hospital services in South Tyneside and across the country“When NHS England (NHSE) and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and trust managers decide they want to close a hospital and associated services they do it by attrition, bit by bit, to slow down and overcome public opposition. The closure of a baby unit, the removal of A&E children’s services, the downgrading of a maternity services or the removal of acute orthopaedics spells the end of the A&E department and leads to the closure of many departments and with them the end of the district general hospital (DGH).” -
Red Pepper | 27th May 2019
Free trade can seriously damage your health“With US insurers, tech giants, and big pharma already eyeing up Britain's precious National Health Service, it is imperative that if Britain leaves the EU, we do so in a way that safeguards against signing a deal that allows for these kind of practises. It is also imperative that working people see through the jingoism pedalled by the likes of Farage and realise that he and his colleagues are merely an extreme version of an already-entrenched elite, and not the working-class heroes they claim to be.” -
Monbiot.com | 12th April 2019
Quantomania“Many of the staff had objected to a decision by the National Health Service to privatise the hospital's cancer scanning. They complained that the scanners the private company was offering are less sensitive than the hospital's own machines. Privatisation, they said, would put patients at risk. In response, as the Guardian revealed last week, NHS England threatened to sue the hospital for libel if its staff continued to criticise the decision.” -
The Independent | 11th July 2018
Don't be fooled, Matt Hancock will be no better for the NHS than Jeremy Hunt was“The Lansley Act devolved the control of the NHS to bodies, such as NHS England. If any single person is responsible for the NHS, then it is Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England.” -
The Mirror | 10th May 2018
MPs set to debate charging patients to use the NHS“Right winger Mr Chope's bill would open the floodgates to charging for a host of other services which could include GP appointments and some hospital procedures” -
Counterfire | 22nd March 2018
NHS: stop the backdoor privatisation“Some 35 NHS trusts are creating "wholly owned companies" to which their non-clinical staff - porters, cleaners and estates staff - will have their employment transferred. "Wholly owned" is the chosen description because ownership by the trusts disguises the vulnerability of these companies to market forces and takeover.” -
The Independent | 18th January 2018
PFI deals are bleeding the NHS dry - some hospitals can't even afford to buy sutures to stitch up wounds“The use of Private Finance Initiatives was driven by a mixture of questionable ideology (private always does things better), dodgy accounting (it takes debt off the state's book although the state still has to repay it) and dubious accountants.” -
The Independent | 28th November 2017
NHS makes undisclosed settlement to Richard Branson's Virgin Care after legal dispute“Virgin Care sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an £82m contract to provide children’s health services across Surrey...” -
Another Angry Voice | 23rd April 2017
Why you need to speak to someone who works in the NHS“I'm asking you to speak to someone you know who works in the NHS and ask them about a number of specific issues.” -
The Independent | 7th January 2017
Government 'systematic underfunding' to blame for NHS humanitarian crisis, Labour says“The Government has been accused of being misleading over how much it spends on the NHS” -
The Guardian | 25th November 2016
Thatcher pushed for breakup of welfare state despite NHS pledge“PM declared the health service was 'safe with us' but secretly pressed on with radical proposals, archives reveal” -
iNews | 12th September 2016
Jeremy Hunt has blood on his hands' - Raymond Tallis's expert assault on the Health Secretary“Hunt's contempt for the NHS had been spelled out in 'Direct Democracy', a volume that he co-authored, in which he had asserted that the organisation was 'irrelevant to the 21st century'. In 2005, and again in 2008, he called for the de-nationalisation of the NHS and for a US-style insurance scheme.” -
The Independent | 13th July 2016
If you think there is no money for NHS funding you'd be right - PFI has sucked it dry“The total UK Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) debt is over £300bn. To put it more simply: this debt would cover the entire NHS budget for approximately two and a half years.” -
The Independent | 24th April 2016
The health crisis is about more than junior doctors on strike. We need a public movement to save our NHS“...the junior doctor contract can only be understood in the context of privatisation. The contract is really about the restructuring of the workforce to bring down the wage bill. It is designed to increase profit margins paving the way for privatisation.” -
The Belfast Telegraph | 11th March 2016
NHS has been abolished, according to the World Health Organisation definition“The introduction of market forces increases cost, reduces efficiency and increases iniquitous provision of healthcare. We know this from extensive data across many countries. This is because privatisation seeks to make profits, pays out dividends to shareholders and creates layers of bureaucracy administered by tiers of staff and managers through market mechanisms such as billing, tendering and contracting.” -
The Belfast Telegraph | 11th March 2016
NHS Reinstatement Bill: Tory MPs filibuster debate by talking about deporting foreigners for hours“...the Bill did not receive a full debate because backbench Conservative MPs discussing a short bill to deport foreign criminals - which had already been debated before - used up available parliamentary time by talking for four and a half hours.” -
The Independent | 10th February 2016
Jeremy Hunt co-authored book calling for NHS to be replaced with private insurance“'Direct Democracy: An Agenda For A New Model Party' called for the 'denationalisation' of the NHS” -
The Guardian | 4th August 2015
How to sell off the NHS - in nine easy steps“It won’t be easy, but with this handy step-by-step guide you too can privatise a health service.” -
The Independent | 17th July 2015
The principle of a free, taxpayer-funded NHS 'must be questioned', says Tory health minister“Lord Prior, the Government's minister for NHS Productivity, is moving to set up an independent inquiry into whether the current free-at-the-point-of-use service is sustainable.” -
The Guardian | 2nd May 2015
Fears grow over 'land grab' of NHS by private suppliers“This announcement marks the final step in giving the private sector the power, influence and a big slice of the NHS budget. There is now a massive conflict of interest with private companies like UnitedHealth, KPMG and McKinsey in charge of the GPs' budget and increasingly buying care from the self-same private sector. The Tories have put Dracula in charge of the blood bank.” -
Open Democracy | 12th February 2015
Don't believe the false reassurance about NHS privatisation“The evidence is that a publicly funded, publicly provided and publicly accountable NHS provides the best care for patients and the best value for money, so the question remains - why are politicians pushing it down the road to privatisation? The public didn't vote for it and polls repeatedly show that we don't want it. Privatisation is an ideological luxury which wastes money and destabilises the NHS and has no purpose other than diverting money to shareholders and enriching some MPs, peers and political donors.” -
The Guardian | 19th November 2014
Private firms on course to net £9bn of NHS contracts“Dr Mark Porter, chair of council at the British Medical Association, said the deepening privatisation exposed by the figures proved that ministers had not told the truth when they denied that Lansley's shakeup would produce more of it in the NHS.” -
The Telegraph | 26th October 2014
The list of 66 A&E and maternity units being hit by cuts“...dozens of NHS maternity and Accident & Emergency units have been closed or downgraded since the last election, with even more under threat” -
Counterfire | 5th December 2013
The great NHS swindle“The direction of travel certainly began in the 80s under Thatcher, and every reform since then has been a strengthening of the market structure, transforming the NHS from a publicly funded body into a huge mix of private providers. But it was Thatcher's imposition of the "Purchaser/provider split" in 1990 which decisively opened the way for the marketisation of the NHS.” -
The Guardian | 5th March 2013
The government is trying to privatise the NHS through back door regulations“...virtually all commissioning by commissioning groups to be done through competitive markets, forcing through privatisation. They contain sweeping, statutory powers for the regulator, Monitor, to enforce competition, on their own account or at the request of private companies.” -
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism | 11th September 2012
Analysis: The new health secretary and the £650m private healthcare takeover“Lansley's Health and Social Care Act, which passed into law despite concern from both the public and the medical profession, was most controversial for opening the supply of healthcare provision to 'any qualified provider' (ie. allowing private companies to bid to takeover any NHS service).” -
The Independent | 9th September 2012
Jeremy Hunt and privatisation are no recipe for saving the NHS - but try telling the Blairites that“The appointment of the new Secretary of State for Health [Jeremy Hunt] should be a warning for all; we must learn from our former mistakes before privatising our national institution.” -
Verso Books | 8th August 2012
"All that was once directly lived..." redwashing, the Olympic opening ceremony and hot patriotic tears“...this spectacle of dissent is acceptable only because it is no challenge to the established order. And, further, that this recuperation, this inclusion of a stylised and neutralised radicalism does not just subsume the radical but strengthens the order itself by making it appear to tolerate dissent?” -
Media Lens | 25th April 2012
‘People Will Die’ - The End Of The NHS. Part 2: Buried By The BBC“Along with the NHS, the BBC is supposed to epitomise the best of British institutions. The BBC has a duty, enshrined in its Charter, to report objectively on stories of national and international interest. The NHS affects every man, woman and child in the country. And yet we suspect very few members of the public realise what has just happened to their health care system.” -
Media Lens | 23rd April 2012
‘People Will Die’ - The End Of The NHS. Part 1: The Corporate Assault“Few political acts have exposed the sham of British ‘democracy’ like the decision to dismantle the National Health Service. In essence, the issues are simple: 1. The longstanding obligation of the UK government to provide universal health care has now been ditched. 2. The NHS is being carved open for exploitation by private interests.” -
The London Progressive Journal | 22nd February 2012
The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it“...a local NHS Trust, previously responsible for providing healthcare to prisoners in several prisons across the North East of England, was passed over for the contract it previously had, in favour of Care UK, a private healthcare group, run by John Nash who donated a six figure sum to the Tory party pre-election.” -
Doctors for the NHS | 14th November 2011
The Fight to Save Britain's NHS“the politicians for ideological reasons, and the private sector for financial reasons, have had the NHS - traditionally publicly funded, publicly delivered and publicly accountable - in their sights for some time. They have acted together, beneath the radar, to turn the NHS from a cost-effective integrated public service into a kite mark attached to a ragbag of competing private providers.” -
Spin Watch | 9th May 2011
"The NHS will be shown no mercy" says Cameron health adviser“The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of that will be in the next few years" - Mark Britnell” -
International Socialist Journal | 4th April 2011
The return of fear“...the assault involves the wholesale restructuring of welfare services based on a massive extension of privatisation. Involving the private sector in the provision of public services is, of course, hardly new. The Public/Private Partnerships promoted by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were a barely-disguised version of the Private Finance Initiative first introduced by the Conservative governments of the 1990s. Academic critics such as Allyson Pollock have also highlighted the extent to which private sector consultancies and multinational healthcare firms continued to flourish and to milk the NHS following New Labour’s election in 1997.8 What is different this time round, however, is the sheer scale of the proposed privatisations.” -
Red Pepper | 1st October 2010
Dismantling the NHS“In reality, the plan to turn the National Health Service into a healthcare market does not rest on rational arguments but material interests. Any realistic strategy to resist the Tory plans must start out from that fact: the plans are not really new, but are the culmination of a decade-long campaign by the private health industry to get its hands on the NHS budget.” -
The Guardian | 16th August 2009
Key Tory MPs backed call to dismantle NHS“Both books call for the NHS to be replaced by a new system of health provision in which people would pay money into personal health accounts, which they could then use to shop around for care from public and private providers. Those who could not afford to save enough would be funded by the state.” -
The Guardian | 30th June 2006
Blair's bad medicine“The government's reforms of the NHS are causing huge concern among doctors, other healthcare workers and patients' groups. The moves have no evidence base and no popular support, and have come in under the radar without public debate or parliamentary discussion. Hospitals are seeing patients diverted to the private sector even when there is capacity in the NHS, and primary care is under threat from the multinationals.” -
Monbiot.com | 21st December 2000
The NHS is Being Privatised“There’s not much to be said for the privatisation of the railways, but at least it was honest. The Conservatives told us what they were doing, so we fought them, and when we lost, we kicked them out of office. Governments and their lobbyists will never make that mistake again. Privatisations, from now on, will be so subtle, so complex, that even the ministers implementing them may not be fully aware of what they’re doing. This is the means by which the greatest prize of all is now being delivered to the private sector.”Every government from the Thatcher government of the 1980s, to the current conservative government (2018) have done their part in furthering the process of privatisation. The apparent rate of change towards a U.S. style health system has increased as each administration builds upon the work of its predecessor. The New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (not to be confused with the current Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party), took big strides towards privatisation, by radically restructuring the NHS and expanding the use of PFI. This built the bridges that David Cameron's government marched over with the 2012 Health and Social Care Act (removing the duty of the Secretary of State for Health to provide universal health care throughout England).
Mainstream / Corporate Media
It's helpful to question the content of articles about the NHS, particularly those from the mainstream / corporate media. The bigger picture, which can be complex, is frequently omitted. This is not always deliberate on the part of an article's author, but it is possible to discern an escalating anti-NHS smear campaign when you consider the totality of the corporate media output.
The Guardian has more of what the renowned investigative journalist John Pilger refers to as 'fig leaves'. That is, authors and content that add some degree of balance to the output. But as Pilger and others point out, even NHS coverage by those platforms with a reputation for objectivity; The Guardian, the BBC and Channel 4, often fails to inform the public of what is happening.
Many corporate media articles more-or-less parrot the Government / NHS England position. This is due in part to journalists relying for the source of their 'facts' on the same 'policy experts' used by the politicians to justify their plans. Most of the think-tanks that you will have heard of - because they are the most commonly referenced by the media and politicians (The Adam Smith Institute, The Institute of Economic Affairs, Reform, Policy Exchange, and several others) - are free-market orientated organisations most often funded by (and therefore allied with) 'dark money'. Their wealthy and corporate donors are seeking 'analysis' that is favourable to their agenda in return for their donations. That 'analysis' provides a third-party source that is often presented as impartial 'fact', and used to shape public opinion and support government policy. Opaque think-tanks are both proxies for corporate lobbying and convenient sources for like-minded or lazy journalists to cite.
One of the most frequently cited think-tanks with regard to the NHS is The Kings Fund. This is partly because it's sole remit is health care (having been formed in 1897 to help the poor in London access health care), and partly because it can claim to be less opaque and more 'independent' than the think-tanks mentioned above. However, from its own website you can see that a quarter of its funding comes from 'commercial organisations' including some corporate partners who stand to benefit from NHS privatisation, and as Open Democracy points out, it received over half-a-million-pounds from the government in 2010. It is therefore very hard to imagine how The King's Fund could be truly independent. Reports generated by The King's Fund can be contradictory, but you can be sure that it will never produce a report that flatly contradicts current Government / NHS England policy until such time that the 'cement has dried' and policy details have moved on, rendering any contradictory analysis far less inconvenient for the Government / NHS England. This pattern was observed by Dr Jacky Davis in her article: Don't believe the false reassurance about NHS privatisation. Think-tanks are 'players' in the revolving door that furthers the careers of so many government ministers and industry executives. The King's Fund is no exception to this. One of the significant moments in this ongoing process of NHS privatisation was NHS Plan 2000. This Act of parliament flung open the doors of the NHS to private clinical providers. It was co-authored by Penny Dash who previously worked for Kaiser Permanente, a U.S. Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) that has been one of the vaunted models for health system transformation in England. Penny Dash went on to join the board of Monitor, the organisation that enforces tendering and competition in the health service, then she went on to become vice Chair of The King's Fund.
Even if a think-tank can claim to be 'independent', it still has an agenda. All think-tanks, whether they are anti-democratic or progressive, exists to engage in activism, to change public opinion and policy. Think-tanks that behave as if we live in an ideological vacuum, unwittingly or knowingly conspire with power and undermine democracy rather than strengthen it. As of 2018, The King's Fund is currently backing Government / NHS England policy to implement plans that will set up Accountable Care Organisations (also known as Integrated Care Providers or ICPs), which are an adaptation of the U.S. HMO model for the England.
A common trope used by corporate media is the false-flag. You will come across a sensational - and often true - headline, such as “NHS Plans to Close Hospitals and A&E Departments Kept Secret from the Public, Investigation Finds”, only to have the article suggest that there is no real cause for alarm. The above article (published after the release of the NTWND STP) is typical for its omission of the political context. While the article may have introduced some people to the threat of pending widespread hospital and A&E closures (like the Path to Excellence in South Tyneside), it does so while deflecting the reader from the bigger picture of NHS privatisation. The author - Katie Forster - refers to an NHS deficit, rather than deliberate NHS underfunding (in a publicly run and funded system there is no such thing as a deficit), with no mention of the many previous damaging and costly reorganisations, the expensive internal market, and the many other ways (such as the Private Finance Initiative) in which private corporations are syphoning billions of pounds from the NHS budget. The title suggests that this article is the result of an 'investigation'. Yet there is no analysis, only X said this, and Y said that. It asks no questions such as; Why is there structural underfunding? How do STPs fit into that picture? Where is democracy and the mandate for these changes? An attempt is made to cite The King's Fund in a critical capacity, but they are cited most effectively as a proponent of the STPs and the secrecy around them - the suggestion being that while it might have been better to find a way to 'involve' the public, the implicit direction of travel (otherwise not discussed) is fine. While this article and others like it are not useless, they do present a narrow and potentially misleading picture.
'Reforms' of the NHS -- from the introduction of the 'internal market' in 1990, to the dismantling 2012 Health and Social Care Act, and the NHS Long Term Plan that splits the NHS into 44 regional health systems -- have all been consistently designed to directly increase, or pave the way for privatisation. They have all been implemented, often in secret, without any public mandate whatsoever. At this advanced stage of privatisation, we hardly need proof any more of the intention to model our health service on the corrupt, costly and cruel personal health insurance-based systems epitomised and exaggerated in the U.S. Therefore, if an article is not founded upon the premise that the NHS is being privatised, that privatisation - particularly of health care - is harmful, and is symptomatic of Corruption, then it will likely be misleading to some degree. Judging by the comments left by readers at the bottom of many such articles, it is reassuring to note that lots of people do see through the obfuscation to the underlying ideology.
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Tribune | 10th March 2023
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The Great NHS Heist is 2019 documentary film (by Dr Bob Gill and Drew McFadyen) that tells the history of NHS privatisation and explains its implications. It illuminates decades of government corruption. The Great NHS Heist provides us with an updated view, relative to an earlier documentary film made in 2014 (by Dr Bob Gill and Peter Bach) called Sell-Off (~57 min). Dr Bob Gill is a GP and an outspoken advocate for the NHS. (See his YouTube Channel).
This is a recoding of an informative discussion conducted over Zoom and hosted by the Labour MP Richard Burgon. It took place in February 2022 as part of efforts to raise awareness about the latest health bill - The Health and Care Bill 2021 - which marks the final stage of 30 to 40 years of successive governments and health bills that have each brought seismic changes to the NHS, gradually transforming it into a US-style health system. The key speakers include Professor Peter Roderick and Professor Allyson Pollock, who are among the authors of the NHS Reinstatement Bill.
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A presentation given by Professor Allyson Pollock in 2021 at Bath University. The presentation is packed with statistics, which are themselves presented in slides shown throughout the video. A problem that campaigners sometimes have in explaining NHS privatisation to those people who are still unaware of it, is that some people don't at first believe that successive British governments would take steps to knowingly harm our public health services. However, as Professor Pollock advises, the various Acts of Parliament that have abolished the NHS and provided the basis for a privatised market in health services, are very long and detailed; they could not have been produced through a lack of awareness, rather the exact opposite must be true.-
This TED Talk given by Professor Allyson Pollock in April 2014, brings attention to the Act of Parliament that abolished the NHS in 2012. This video was a wake-up call to many people who are now campaigners.
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Professor Allyson Pollock gives a wonderfully succinct overview of NHS privatisation. She debunks the suggestion that NHS privatisation is exaggerated. She states that the government is remodelling the NHS along the lines of the U.S. health system, which is the most expensive in the world, with some of the poorest outcomes. Privatisation extracts resources in the form of profit from necessary public services. It is a form of corruption, transferring public money and assets (our 'commons') into already enriched private hands. Profit, rather than delivering the service, is the motive.If you have 15 minutes, listen to this!
This is a full length documentary about the covert dismantling of the NHS. As far as we are aware the film is not yet available for download, but as of November 2019, there has been a season of free film screenings throughout the country including a screening at the Customs House in South Shields. The film's makers are crowd funding to enable more free screenings of the film in the future.
This is another full length documentary. Made by award-winning journalist and film maker John Pilger, and released in December 2019, it is about the hidden NHS privatisation agenda and more broadly about the state of our democracy in making back-door privatisation of the NHS possible.- Dr Bob Gill (co-creator of the documentary films, The Great NHS Heist and Sell-Off) suggests that the NHS is being transformed into a US-style health system. He points out that the process of privatising the NHS began in the 1980s. He makes reference to a paper written in 1988 by Oliver Letwin called Britain's Biggest Enterprise and another by the Adam Smith Institute called The Health Of Nations
Award winning activist Dan Glass in a grassroots report on the NHS crisis & the people fighting to save it - Part 1Entertaining, informative, and touching... a must watch!-
Award winning activist Dan Glass in a grassroots report on the NHS crisis & the people fighting to save it - Part 2
- If your motivation to keep fighting for our NHS is waning, this brilliantly orated speech from Michael Sheen (apparently given at Tredegar the home town of NHS founder Aneurin Bevan) will pick you up.“...there are plenty out there who believe in grabbing as much as they can for themselves, constantly sniffing around for markets to exploit, for weakness to expose. They won't say it of course, they're too smart for that. No one says 'they want to get rid of the NHS', everyone praises it across all parties, it is about as powerful a symbol of goodness as we have. It would be too dangerous not to. But for decades now there has, never the less, been a systematic undermining of its core values. This is beyond party politics. The Labour Government arguably did as much damage to the NHS as any Tory or Coalition-led one.”
- Vlogger Chris Holden Tells you everything you need to know about the Naylor Report. He has produced and even shorter summary here.
Dr Youssef El-Gingihy (author of How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps) draws attention to the inefficiencies of running the NHS as a market system, and suggests that marketisation harms the NHS, as does deliberate underfunding. He also points to the bigger problem of government corruption and the corporate capture of our public services more generally.-
Dr Jacky Davis (co-founder of Keep Our NHS Public and co-author of NHS for Sale: Myths, Lies and Deception) gives an overview of the context in which Sustainability & Transformation Plans have been imposed on the NHS.
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In this interview on Going Underground, Professor Guy Standing discusses his new book Plunder of the Commons - A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth, and in doing so he locates NHS privatisation in the bigger context of the theft of our 'commons', where what we should hold in common are the things that we all need to secure our basic rights and needs, including housing, water, transport, health care etc. Professor Standing touches upon the piecemeal privatisation of the NHS by stealth and argues for a reversal of the mass privatisations of essential public services, public spaces and culture.
Filmed on the 8th of June 2021, this video brings attention to the government's latest attempt to collect all patient GP (and non-GP) medical data into a central database, from which it will be made available to corporations, for whom the collected data is very valuable. It is possible to protect your medical data and opt-out, although the government has made no attempt to tell the general public about this. The data-grab was originally scheduled to commence on 1st of July 2021. Thanks to the efforts of some campaign groups and other organisations (medConfidential, Byline Times, openDemocracy and legal action from Foxglove Legal), the government is having to jump through some hoops, and the deadline for opting out has (at the time of writing 2021-07-24) been postponed. For more information, including everything you need to know about opting out, please see the links below:
How to Opt Out - medConfidential
The government wants to sell your GP medical records - Byline Times
The Tories have worked out how to pull off an NHS data grab: do it during a pandemic - The Guardian-
Author and activist George Monbiot powerfully describes the criminality of politicians who sell their services to powerful interests rather than acting in the public interest. He makes the point that most public assets have now been 'flogged-off', and one of the last services (and central component of British identity) still to fight for is the NHS. In addition to the abundance of evidence demonstrating greater efficiency and better outcomes in a publicly-funded, publicly-provided health system - and in addition to our absolute right to health care - the fight for the NHS is also at the forefront of the fight for our right to own and democratically control our public assets, infrastructure and services.. Health care is one of our fundamental rights along with water, food, housing, energy and transport, all of which have been privatised to greater or lesser extents, creating captive markets which provide a guaranteed income to their billionaire owners.
Dr Bob Gill began speaking out when his local hospital was downgraded and he observed the resulting detrimental effects on his patients. In this interview for Real Media he concisely explains what is happening to the NHS and why, touching upon:- The role of the media and the government narrative
- The Private Finance Initiative - Loans and Debt
- Sustainability and Transformation Plans, Simon Stevens, and the Five Year Forward View
- Why isn't there more fuss?
- TTIP, CETA and the role of trade deals
- Three elements to the NHS heist - the budget, the land, and patient data
Dr Gill suggests that we are now on the "home straight" towards a private insurance based health system. This interview is part of a set of short videos on the Real Media YouTube channel, including: Who is Simon Stevens?, NHS - The truth about STPs, Doctors on what is happening to the NHS, Spot the difference - US / UK health care.
Sketches and interviews mixing comedy and facts from an awareness raising stand up comedy show that ran in 2015.- A video promoted by the campaign group '38 Degrees' that tells some stories of people from Durham experiencing the effects of NHS cuts.
In 2016, we heard a lot of spin suggesting that the Junior Doctors were striking for selfish reasons and without regard for their patients. This is the complete opposite of the truth as this video tries to make clear. As you might expect, many NHS workers have been politicized by the attacks on the NHS. Many NHS workers know what is happening but they can't halt and reverse NHS privatisation on their own.“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.”
Few liars are more deserving of Cassetteboy's brilliant and witty ability to put truth into their mouths than ex Health Secretary and cheerleader for NHS privatisation Jeremy Hunt.
Two doctors discuss the secret trade talks that have been taking place between the UK and US governments (in anticipation of Brexit), and the implications that a future trade deal with the US would have for the NHS and the health of people in the UK. We now know that secret talks began in Washington DC on 24th July 2017 (while Boris Johnson was 'Foreign' Secretary). 451 pages of documents outlining the content of the trade talks have been released following a Freedom of Information Request (that was initially denied), and have been brought to the public's attention by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The key points identified in this video inlclude:
1) The US wants "full market access" to UK public services, meaning that the NHS is on the negotiating table. Mechanisms built into the trade deals allow corporations to sue the British government in the event that the British government acts in the people's best interest by, for example, passing safeguarding regulation, which is something corporations don't like because it reduces their potential for future profits.It is also worth remembering that the NHS is already in the process of being structurally transformed into 44 regional health services (known as Integrated Care Systems - partly modelled on US Health Maintenance Organisations), which will create significant opportunities for US health corporations to integrate fully into a UK health market created out of the shell of the NHS.
2) Patent Law is also part of the deal. Patents allow pharmaceutical companies to make a profit on the drugs they produce. Patents have a limited life span, after which a given drug may become less expensive. Given that the purpose of the trade deal is to have a liberalising influence on the markets, and given the ideological priorities of the current US and UK governments, we are advised to assume that a UK-US trade deal would protect patent law in favour of corporate profits over patient access. Such a trade deal also threatens the bulk-purchasing power of the NHS, something which currently enables the NHS to negotiate down the cost of drugs. The same drug can be many times more expensive in the US because of their fragmented market system.
3) Food quality standards and labelling are also central to the trade deal, and the documents reveal that the UK has been explicitly told to accept US food quality standards and labelling practices. The doctors highlight the importance of requiring food products to be labelled comprehensively so that we know what we are eating, and can avoid products that are unhealthy or bad for the environment.
4) The doctors draw attention to other regulation and standards that impact upon people's health, including vehicle emissions.-
This video basically presents a character assassination of Jeremy Hunt. We often here that a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few benefits us all (the 'trickle-down' theory). The political choice to privatise health services (causing harm to all but the most affluent) contrasts with the political choice to bail out wealthy bankers and subsidise corporations and rich land owners. The fact that these choices have indeed been made is not controversial. What might be controversial is the rationale used to justify them.
Jeremy Hunt has played his part in further dismantling the public health service in England, but he continues to coolly deny NHS privatisation is taking place. Like others driving privatisation, he was not born to do this harm. It is helpful to try and understand the systemic conditions that give rise to Jeremy Hunt's way of thinking and seeing the world. It is a world view that is irreconcilable with the needs of most people. To secure the NHS for future generations we have to work towards a society that will remove the conditions that give rise to this emotionally damaged elite class, and we must seek to remove the reward system that incentivises people (from health corporation executives and government ministers to local managers) to act against the public interest.
For a brief discussion of how many of the ruling elites have come to be where and what they are, you might like to read these articles: The Unlearning by George Monbiot and How Capitalism Makes us Sick by Dr Gabor Mate 
A montage of news and sound bites that showcase the government's destructive NHS record.
Jeremy Hunt is the longest serving health secretary to date and he has instigated the largest cuts to NHS funding in history. Although he is to some extent crossing bridges built by previous governments (beginning with the Thatcher government in the 1980s), he is wilfully advancing the privatisation agenda at a shocking pace.
This is a short debate between a representative of 'Reform' and Dr David Wrigley. 'Reform' is a right-wing 'think-tank'. Most 'think-tanks' do not reveal who funds them, but 'Reform' helpfully list partners and donors on their website. A quick glance reveals that 'Reform' is funded by some corporations that will obviously benefit from NHS privatisation including:Many so called 'think-tanks' are actually lobby groups providing a propaganda service for their corporate funders. This is a very powerful way of influencing society. Propaganda works by omission and seeding doubt. In other words, 'Reform' does not have to establish categorically that privatisation is helpful, it is enough to seed the false idea that the NHS is unavoidably struggling and that private providers might be a reasonable solution to this otherwise unavoidable situation.The truth is that the NHS is being deliberately under-resourced and underfunded in order to facilitate privatisation. Any argument that is built upon the premise that the NHS is struggling because of an ageing population, irresponsible patients, health tourism etc., should ring alarm bells. We need everyone to realise that specific, deliberate and avoidable political choices are being made to put an end to our equitable and socialised health care system.
This interview with a U.S. paediatrician gives an insight into how the U.S. health system works, with a focus on "Obama Care". Our health service is on a trajectory towards a similar two-tier system, where the publicly-funded publicly-provided free-at-the-point-of-use care is reduced to a basic package of services similar to U.S. Medicare.We are told that the U.S. has the highest health care costs per capita in the world, and that much of that cost pays for administration, which stems from the requirements of managing a complex health market. It is a situation now familiar to health campaigners in the U.K. Campaigners in the U.S. are fighting an uphill struggle to get a socialised system of health care for everyone. They know the evidence backs up claims that a publicly-provided tax-funded system has lower costs and better outcomes."The bottom line of the private insurance companies is, how do we get away with charging the highest premiums, shifting the most costs to the patients, and paying for the fewest services. That's their business model, and that's not the kind of model you want in a health system."Incremental (and often massive) reforms continue to dismantle the NHS, privatise services and transform our overall system to approximate the Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) model inspired by the likes of Kaiser Permanente based in California. A market system has been gradually introduced in the U.K. starting with the introduction of the NHS "internal market" in 1990. This increased NHS costs significantly as more administrative and managerial staff are required. The Department of Health commissioned a study in 2003 (kept secret until 2010). It found 14 percent of the NHS budget went on administration, up from 5 percent in the 1970s. The Act of parliament that flung open the doors of our health services to private clinical provision (NHS Plan 2000) was co-authored by Penny Dash, who worked for Kaiser Permanente in the 1990s. Head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, worked for the giant U.S. health insurance corporation UnitedHealth. The revolving door between ministers, NHS managers and health corporations (many of which have their roots in the U.S.) swings both ways and is considered normal. This video shows that it is also a feature of the U.S. health system.The NHS Long Term Plan published in 2019 does not address the problems facing the NHS, but focuses on transforming the NHS in England into 44 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). In South Tyneside and Sunderland, the "Path to Excellence" is the manifestation of these plans.The once simple hierarchy from front-line services to the Secretary of State for Health was abolished by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, It has led to a complex system of public and private providers with a regulator to enforce tendering and competitive behaviour. The result is increasing costs, struggling services, longer waiting times.-
North East Groups and Campaigns
Nationwide NHS Campaigns
The following campaigns have done an enormous amount of work in raising awareness of what is happening to our NHS. Their websites are full of useful links and information that help in understanding the complex deception that has been perpetrated.
Successful Campaigns
Various Other Campaigns and Information Sources
Various Petitions, Open Letters and Crowd-funders
- Petition started by Dr Sonia Adesara (a junior doctor and member of Keep Our NHS Public) calling on our government to guarantee that our health service will never form part of a trade deal with America.
- Petition to force a debate of the NHS Reinstatement Bill, created by the NHS Reinstatement Bill Group, which includes the Bill's co-authors Professor Allyson Pollock and lawyer Peter Roderick.
- Crowd-funder for a legal challenge to the government and NHS England, brought by Professor Stephen Hawking, Dr Colin Hutchinson, Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor Sue Richards and Dr Graham Winyard.
- Crowd-funder for a legal challenge against NHS England's ACO/ICP contract integral to the introduction of the American model of health care, brought by 999 Call for the NHS.
- Open Letter to Richard Branson.
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Books
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Zero Books : July 2015 : Updated November 2018This book is the most recent, shortest and possibly most accessible, but it still packs a lot in. It is well written and entertaining, and coupled with it's small size, it provides a really helpful overview of NHS privatisation touching on the latest stages of that process including 'Sustainability and Transformation Plans', 'Accountable / Integrated Care Systems' and 'Accountable Care Organisations / Integrated Care Providers'.
In this video (~8 min) Dr. Youssef El-Gingihy gives a brief overview of the 10 steps he explains in his book. He suggests that the current situation in the NHS equates to step 9, but he thinks we still have a chance to save the NHS with a large enough campaign. He maintains a facebook page to accompany the book.
We the people will always have the power to take our health services back under public control should we succeed in organising ourselves to do so. As George Monbiot has said: "we are a society of altruists governed by psychopaths".Contents:- Create and Internal Market
- Introduce Public-Private Partnerships
- Facilitate the Corporate Takeover AKA Organise a Great Big Sell Off
- Install a Revolving Door
- Run a PR Smear Campaign
- Legislate for the Dismantling of the NHS
- Plot against the NHS
- Brew the Perfect Storm
- Redesign the Workforce
- Restructure the NHS into a US-style Insurance System
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Merlin Press : April 2015Of the books currently available, this book probably remains the best all-rounder. It covers the 2012 Health and Social Care Act and its consequences with lots of detail, and so makes an essential accompaniment to How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps.
The book contains a list of suggested further reading, a notes section that provides lots of useful links to on-line sources. It is essential reading, but as it was published in 2015 it discusses the Five Year Forward View, but says nothing about the Sustainability and Transformations Plans, Accountable / Integrated Care System and Accountable Care Organisations / Integrated Care Providers.Contents:- Setting the scene
- Myth: the NHS is inefficient and unaffordable - it can't go on like this
- Myth: our NHS reforms will mean more choice for patients
- Myth: our NHS reforms will put GPs in the driving seat
- Myth: our NHS reforms will reduce bureaucracy and save money
- Myth: our NHS reforms will give more power and voice to local people
- Myth: our NHS reforms will make the NHS more transparent and accountable
- Myth: the private sector is more efficient and cost-effective than the public sector
- Myth: we are not privatising the NHS
- Myth: we will cut the deficit not the NHS
- What they don't want us to know
- Looking ahead
- The health lobby industry
- A round-up of NHS vital statistics under the coalition
Verso : March 2006 : Updated January 2009'NHS plc' is the book to read if you want to get an understanding of how the NHS was formed, how it functioned before privatisation and how privatisation began. It is great for helping the reader understand the structure of our health services, particularly if combined with more recent books.
This extract from the preface sums up the situation perfectly:
“The era in which the judge and the janitor would have beds together on the same ward, and receive the same standard of care is drawing to a close. Professionals who worked to build up services to give the best possible quality of care to all patients are being replaced with agents acting on behalf of corporations and their shareholders. The requirement laid on Foundation Trusts to generate surpluses means that care will increasingly be orientated to the more profitable treatments, and to patients who can afford to pay. Meanwhile the health service is being broken up into hundreds of competing trading organisations. Inevitably some will go to the wall and there will be more closures and mergers. Health care will revert towards the pre-NHS situation, with a lucky few having access to superior care while most of the population makes do with increasingly limited 'basic' services of declining quality.
It took more than fifty years to build the consensus for the NHS, and it is a testimony to what can be achieved with the right sort of political will. It is hoped that this book will help inspire a new generation to work towards reclaiming the rights and entitlements that the NHS once conferred, and a new vision of health care for all.”You might also like this review of NHS plcContents:- Market Prescriptions
- The Real Cost of Market Prescriptions
- Privatising the NHS: An Overview
- Hospitals
- Primary Care
- Long-term Care for Older People
- Overcoming Opposition
- The Emerging Health Care Market
- Epilogue
Merlin Press : June 2011In this lecture, based on the book, co-author Colin Leys attempts to set the record straight on plans for a new health care market. He argues that the health care reforms proposed by the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition government were not as radical as they seem, but are part of a plan supported by successive governments to dismantle the NHS.
UNISON : February 2019The book was commissioned and published by a local branch of the health union UNISON, where they have been fighting PFI and its consequences for over 25 years.
An extended Postscript examines the global spread of PFI and shows the extent to which the same flawed model has generated similar problems in very different health care systems around the world, not least the disastrous hospital project in Lesotho driven by the World Bank.Contents:- The theory of PFI
- The experience in practice (focused on a case study of the UNISON branch and the issues it faced in Mid Yorkshire)
- What to do about PFI
One World Publications : July 2013
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“The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”
- Aneurin Bevan (NHS founder - 1948)
- Aneurin Bevan (NHS founder - 1948)