Eastbourne activists back NHS Bill

An Eastbourne activists group is calling on MPs to support a new Bill opposing privatisation in the NHS when it goes before Parliament next week.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Mar 2016, 10:23 BST
Updated 1st Mar 2016, 10:24 BST

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Activists from the Eastbourne People's Assembly raising awarness outside Eastbourne station SUS-160103-101857001Activists from the Eastbourne People's Assembly raising awarness outside Eastbourne station SUS-160103-101857001
Activists from the Eastbourne People's Assembly raising awarness outside Eastbourne station SUS-160103-101857001

The call by the Eastbourne People’s Assembly comes as the group launches a new campaign opposing NHS privatisation.

The group, which is highly critical of the Government’s record on the NHS, has also recently given its support to the junior doctors strikes proposed by the BMA.

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A spokesman for the group said, “The EPA has been keen to get to the heart of what lies beneath Jeremy Hunt’s battle with the BMA and has discovered it was never really just about the contracts.

“No. It is about paving the way for privatisation of the NHS.

“Since getting into Government in 2010, the Conservative party has made sure that the NHS will be sold-off as quickly as possible.

“It started with The Health and Social Care Act 2012. This act dismantled the strategic centres of the NHS and handed over the responsibility for the NHS to unelected commissioning groups paving the way to ensuring up to 49 per cent of beds in any NHS hospital could be handed over to private providers.”

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The group supports the NHS Reinstatement Bill, a piece of proposed legislation, which would abolish the current NHS system of trusts and clinical commissioning groups.

If passed the Bill would replace this system with a Special Health Authority and regional committees.

The Bill, which was first put forward by Brighton Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, currently has the support of 75 cross-party MPs.

To raise awareness of the Bill, the EPA has been sharing information on social media as well as holding demonstrations at various locations in Eastbourne.

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Members will also be joining the picket line with the junior doctors outside Eastbourne DGH later this month.

The Bill is due for its second reading on March 11.

Anyone who wants to get further information about the EPA is asked to contact the group on [email protected]

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Related topics:NHSParliamentGovernmentMPsBMA