The fight for the NHS is not over

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is today calling on MPs to use their last

chance to save the NHS by voting to drop the Health and Social Care Bill in the

Opposition Day debate tomorrow (13 March). The union is also calling for

Liberal Democrat peers to respect the wishes of members at their Spring

Conference and defeat the widely unpopular Bill.

Key Lib Dem activists and supporters are clearly worried about the impact of

the Bill and the ‘Drop the Bill’ Emergency Motion received more first

preference votes than the alternative proposed by Shirley Williams. The final

result saw Williams’ motion amended to remove the reference to Liberal

Democrat peers supporting the Bill at the Third Reading.

Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary said:

“We’re running out of time but the fight the save the NHS is not over. The

Liberal Democrats now have a final opportunity to get this bill dropped or

they risk losing voters at the next election.

“The bill will allow hospitals to raise huge amounts of money from private

patients, meaning NHS patients will be forced to wait longer for treatment

endangering the key principle that our National Health Service should be

based on need and not ability to pay.

“Accompanying policies such as Any Qualified Provider will lead to a much

greater role for private companies, despite scandals in other sectors that

demonstrate the recklessness of this approach.

“It’s time for the Liberal Democrats to join the thousands of nurses, midwives,

healthcare assistants, hospital porters, cleaners and caterers, as well as the

growing list of professional bodies and royal colleges that are adamantly

opposed to this bill.”

A recent YouGov poll for the union has shown that one in three potential Lib

Dem voters would be more likely to vote for the party at the next election if it

called for the Health Bill to be dropped.

The union is also calling on the government to ditch the legal challenges that

are wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money and publish its risk

register of the NHS plans. Last week, the Information Tribunal ruled that the

government must release the register- the second such ruling that the

government has ignored.

ENDS