Banbury's Horton supporters and union campaigners invite town to join coach to London for emergency NHS demo

Keep the Horton General (KTHG) has organised a coach to the Keep Our NHS Public demonstration which will call for an end to the NHS crisis.

They are supported by the GMB in Banbury and others who are calling for a reversal of austerity that has seen the NHS sunk to its worst-ever performance.

The demonstration takes place in central London on Saturday, March 11. The KTHG coach will leave the Whately Hall at 9.30am. Seats are free but there will be a collection. Those wishing to put their names down should call or message Ken Hopkins on 07786 037542.

Charlotte Bird, press officer for KTHG, said: “The changes that have been forced on the NHS over the last 13 years have resulted in downgrading of the Horton and loss of our obstetric maternity unit, dozens of medical beds and downgraded intensive care.

"This is a result of deliberate government policy to centralise services in Oxford. But Banbury needs more acute hospital services than ever as it grows. Our catchment area is close to 200,000 and we need a district hospital with all reasonable services here, not 25 miles down the road.”

Ms Bird said support of the SOS NHS demonstration was vital if politicians are to be convinced of public support for continuation of the NHS as a universal public service.

A KONP spokesman said: “In 2010, after a decade of investment, our NHS was delivering its best-ever performance. After more than a decade of austerity – despite heroic efforts by staff – it has sunk to its worst-ever.

“We do not need to remind people about the unprecedented crisis in the NHS, but we do need to ensure our voice is heard. We stand by NHS staff forced to strike and we seek to expose the Government’s political choices to underfund and privatise the NHS.”

KONP said it was also an opportunity ahead of the Spring Budget to bring people together around an issue that unites the country.

“The NHS staff shortage is now at 132,000 vacancies, waiting lists and ambulance wait times have never been higher,” they said.

"Government could invest properly in health but it doesn’t have the political will to do so. Instead it turns to private sector providers who have failed the NHS time and again, wasting tens of billions during the pandemic.”

Government policies have led to growing levels of inequality which have exacerbated the crisis, they say.

“The Health and Care Act will not put an end to contracts going to the private sector, draining resources from the NHS. Nor will pie-in-the-sky ideas like so-called ‘virtual wards’. The truth is this Government wants the NHS to fail,” they said.

“We need emergency funds now to make up for an annual deficit of around £35bn. We must recruit and retain more frontline staff and pay them properly. We need a return to a fully publicly funded and provided NHS, protected from private companies who put profit before patients.”

KONP’s three demands are – emergency funding; investment in a fully publicly owned NHS and a guarantee of free healthcare for future generations and fair, decent pay for staff.