Banbury campaigners join huge SOS NHS march in London as junior doctors prepared for strike

Taking two banners marking the 20+ year battle for retention and protection of hospital services in Banbury were members of the Keep the Horton General campaign.

Also in attendance were members of the North Oxfordshire Socialist Alliance and the Banbury GMB branch whose picture made the front page of the Washington Post. The British media appeared to have largely ignored the event.

Sharing the coach were Oxfordshire Keep Our NHS Public, (KONP) whose national organisers staged the demonstration which marched from Tottenham Court Road to Downing Street where speeches were made by politicians, union members and workers from the NHS.

The action happened two days before the start (today, Monday) of a three day strike by junior doctors across the country. They are striking for pay increases they say are needed to improve staff recruitment and retention.

At the rally outside Downing Street, the founder of the SOS NHS coalition, Dr Tony O’Sullivan, told crowds there is a ‘tragedy unfolding’ in front of British people.

“There are 500 avoidable deaths every week on the NHS emergency pathway. The government is 100 per cent to blame,” he said.

“I have never seen such a crisis of low morale among health staff. Pay NHS staff properly now and repair this crisis.”

The demo called for a reversal of privatisation and investment in staff, buildings and services.

"In 2020 the Government put aside £10bn to buy operations in the private sector over four years. It paid around £2bn to 26 private hospitals during the pandemic,” said Dr O’Sullivan.”Mental health care in the UK is dire and the NHS doesn’t have enough beds. It pays £2bn a year to private hospitals for mental health care.”

KONP described the ‘sad irony’ of a new £1bn private hospital in London paying its 270 consultants £350,000 a year.

"Over 17,000 doctors working in private hospitals are NHS doctors. Their hours in the private sector are lost to the NHS. Because the private hospitals didn’t contribute to their training this is a free subsidy to the private sector of about £8bn.”

KONP highlighted Private Finance Initiative (PFI) – private sector loans to build hospital accommodation rather than government funding – costing some hospitals more than their drugs bills. They mentioned the Children’s Hospital and West Wing in Oxford, built on a PFI scheme which will costing the trust £60 million a year for 33 years.

The group described the Government as 'cruel and ideological’ and said 500 people are dying a week, avoidably, because of ambulance shortages and hold-ups in A&E.

"There are 133,000 staff vacancies, 50,000 nurses short and 17,000 hospital doctors and GPs needed. Hospital ceilings are falling down, GP surgeries and health centres are in decay and staff have lost 10 – 30 per cent of pay value since 2010.

"Hedge funds and big private care home chains are taking out 20 – 40 per cent of (government) funding as profits every April 6. Corruption abounds.”

Charlotte Bird of Keep the Horton General described hearing the true situation from medics inside the NHS as ‘deeply concerning’ and the humanitarian concern for patients by some politicians as very moving.