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