05 Happy Birthday NHS


Te NUJ supports the SOSNHS campaign to fight for a health service fit to work in and fit for purpose for another 75 years … John Lister explains how branches can get involved


Second World War British economy while rationing was still in force – yet it became the first health service in the world to be funded from general taxation and free to all who used it on the basis of need, not ability to pay. Charges for prescriptions (in England), opticians and dental care long ago eroded that principle but the NHS remains a precious lifeline, the only provider of emergency services and care to all. Its 1.26 million staff have managed to keep services going despite growing staff shortages, real term cuts in pay, and austerity policies that have frozen or cut real term funding. When David Cameron’s Tory-led coalition took office in 2010, the NHS was reaching a peak of performance aſter a decade of investment, with record low waiting times.


T


he National Health Service will reach its 75th birthday on July 5. It was launched in the ruins of the post-


Tese are now a distant memory. Te cash squeeze has taken effect. Te record 7.42 million now on England’s waiting list is a stark reminder of how far its performance has fallen. Te four-hour target for A&E services has not been met since 2015. Te 18-week maximum wait target for elective treatment was last achieved in 2016. Cancer services have been missing targets since 2015. Te Covid pandemic was not


solely to blame: by December 2019 the waiting list was already double the 2010 level, at 4.5 million. Meanwhile so-called “reforms”


in England’s NHS focused on forcing NHS trusts and commissioners to send more patients to profit-seeking private hospitals and providers.


In December 2021 SOSNHS, an alliance of trade unions and health campaigners (swiſtly backed by the NUJ) set out a clear


alternative, calling for an emergency injection of £20bn to kick-start a real return to investment in the NHS to repair the damage done, followed by a decade of spending increases and bringing privatised services back in- house. At Delegate Meeting the union reaffirmed its support for the campaign. SOSNHS seeks to build the


broadest possible movement, fighting to build up NHS capacity so it can again match and exceed the performance it delivered in 2010. Te annual Bevan Festival will


be a key event for those in Wales to celebrate the founder of the NHS on Sunday 2 July with a banner parade from Charles Street to Bedwellty Park, Tredegar.


Take part in the NHS birthday events around July 5 .


Action •


Get your branch to donate to the SOSNHS campaign.


Te DM motion also urged journalists


• •


to make use of online news and analysis produced by journalists and health campaigners at Te Lowdown.


CAMPAIGN


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