38 Degrees | NHS Cuts

 

 

 

 

15 November 2016

Health Minister Jeremy Hunt has a plan to cut NHS services across England – A&Es, GP surgeries, and hospital wards. [1] He tried to keep them secret for as long as possible, but now he’s quietly publishing them one-by-one.[2]

The plans are almost impossible to understand. They’re packed full of jargon and figures. But hidden within them are plans to cut hospital beds and close A&Es – and they could be rolled out in just a few months. [3] So unless we dig into the details, we won’t know what’s in store for our NHS until it’s too late.

Together, we’ve exposed Jeremy Hunt’s secret plans before – so we know this works. This summer thousands of us chipped in to investigate the first draft of the plans. [4] It made headlines from BBC News to the front page of the Guardian, and our people-powered research was even quoted in Parliament. MPs were shocked and have been speaking out since. [5]

The experts are all ready to go again, and journalists are eager to know what’s going on. But the plans are too complicated for most of us to understand. They’re full of spreadsheets and charts, and without experts investigating, no one will know what they really mean for patients.

Our NHS is worth fighting for. It’s always there for us when we need it – from birth, throughout our lives and in our final days. Lots of us say that the NHS is one of the things that makes us most proud of being British. It’s time to stand up for our NHS again.

Thanks for being involved,

Charlotte, Amy, Laura and the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] These plans are called “Sustainability and Transformation plans”. NHS England has split England into 44 areas, and forced each area to create emergency plans to cut costs. It’s Jeremy Hunt and the government who are ultimately responsible for these cuts – they’re not giving the NHS the money it needs. Instead, they’re squeezing the budget so hard there is no option but cuts.
NHS England: Sustainability and transformation plans:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/deliver-forward-view/stp/
NHS England: Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/stp-footprints-march-2016.pdf

[2] So far, 14 STPs have been published but this number is going up steadily. They are:
Northumberland,
Tyne, Wear and North Durham
Darlington and Tees
West Yorkshire
Lancashire and South Cumbria
Merseyside, Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral
Birmingham and Solihull
Milton Keynes, Luton and Bedfordshire
North West London
South East London
South West London
North East London
Dorset
Somerset
Devon
Health Service Journal (behind a paywall): Which STPs have been published so far?
https://www.hsj.co.uk/topics/stps/mapped-which-stps-have-been-published-so-far/7013064.article
BBC News: NHS bosses ‘trying to keep cuts secret’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37943379

[3] A picture is emerging bit by bit about what these plans could mean for patients.
BBC News: NHS cuts ‘planned across England’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37186455
The Telegraph: Almost half of NHS authorities to cut hospital beds and third to close A&E:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/30/almost-half-of-nhs-authorities-to-cut-hospital-beds-and-third-to/

[4] Short video of 38 Degrees’ NHS media coverage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88l_LBN-20

[5] A record of a debate in Parliament about Sustainability and Transformation plans, 14th September 2016:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2016-09-14/debates/16091433000002/NHSSustainabilityAndTransformationPlans

38 Degrees | Give the NHS more funding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give the NHS more funding

Winter is nearly here and the NHS can’t cope as it is. That’s why I’ve just signed this petition calling on the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, to give our NHS the funding it needs to survive this winter.

Right now he’s deciding how to spend taxpayers’ money for next year. The Autumn Statemen will be out in a few weeks’ time, so we still have a chance to show just how much of a prioirty the NHS is for us.

So can you please join me and add your name to this petition now? It takes less than a minute and could mean that the NHS will surive this winter.

Mother holding child’s hand who fever patients have IV tube.

Give the NHS more funding

To Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health and Philip Hammond, Chancellor

Petition text

Please use the Autumn Statement to provide more funding for the NHS.

Why is this important?

The NHS has been there for all of us at some point in our lives. It brings our children into the world, treats us when we’re sick, and cares for us in our final days. But our health service doesn’t have enough funding it needs, so the services we rely on are at risk of closing.

Recently experts and even the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have said that the NHS is headed for a crisis this winter unless it gets the funding it needs. Will you please use the opportunity of the Autumn Statement to give the NHS the funding it so desperately needs.