A PUBLIC meeting will be held at St Andrew’s Methodist Church Hall in Pump Street for Worcester residents to air their views on the crisis in the NHS.
The meeting will be held tomorrow (Thursday) from 7.15pm and is being staged by Worcester Trades Union Council, which claims health services in the country are ‘on the edge of catastrophe’.
Organisers hope the meeting will be the latest step in recent action on the NHS which saw a day of action in the city on February 11 and attendance at the national ‘It’s Our NHS’ march earlier this month.
Council chair Pete McNally said claims of extra money to expand the Accident and Emergency unit at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital was ‘too little, too late’ and accused the county’s independent watchdog HealthWatch of a ‘feeble response’ to recent cuts.
“The crisis in A&E has diverted public attention from the serious decline elsewhere in the health and care services, the blame for which the trades council firmly puts at the door of the Government’s austerity policies and chronic underfunding of public services,” he said.
“Health planners have said they are seeking to cut nearly half of beds in community hospitals and a consultation exercise has been launched on plans to limit prescriptions, IVF treatment and hip and knee surgery.
“The Government keeps claiming we are one of the richest countries in the world and that our economy is growing faster than elsewhere.
“Just ending unnecessary competition in the health service and re-negotiating PFI contracts would go some way to giving the NHS the real terms growth it needs to catch up with demand,” he added.
City residents are being invited to attend the free meeting and air their views on what needs to be done.
Anyone wishing to reserve a seat or to put forward questions and ideas should e-mail [email protected] for more information.
