Raising the alarm about the dismantling of our NHS was our aim last weekend. Which is why East Sussex Save the NHS hosted an event in Eastbourne about the privatisation of our NHS. We were delighted to have two excellent speakers to talk about our healthcare today in this culture of rampant capatalism.
Our NHS is being dismantled and we need to raise the alarm. Too many people can see that services are no longer offering the excellent care they once did. But people are being lied to and deceived by our media, our politicians and other establishment figures. For the last thing they want us to see is the fact that our NHS is being dismantled.
We believe as a campaign, people must be given the facts about why we are seeing a deterioration in healthcare services. For it is only when people can understand what is happening that they can know how to fight back.
British people have time and time again fought hard to win the rights we now all enjoy. Well-meaning politicians don’t just appear with great ideas while the population is staying quiet. And right now we have a severe shortage of well-meaning politicians. We can and must start raising awareness of what is happening to our NHS and why. And we must then join with others to fight back before many more people die unnecessarily.
Below you will see videos in this blog post of our two speakers. Please, please watch and comment then share with your contacts. This is the most important action you can take to help in the fight for our NHS and the lives of many in this community.
Dr Michael Huggett on the impact of neo-liberalism on mental health
Our first speaker was lecturer and mental health nurse Dr Michael Huggett. Dr Huggett was speaking about how the political and economic system we live in is causing mental distress for many. He went on to challenge the ethos that locates the source of that mental distress as being in the individual, as opposed to the society. While recognising mental health treatments such as CBT or Mindfulness do have some value, they are reinforcing that same ethos.
Dr Huggett’s talk was a good introduction to our next speaker Dr Bob Gill. Dr Gill is a working GP, film producer and campaigner. He is the man behind the excellent film The Great NHS Heist. The film is going to be shown in Eastbourne on Jan 21st 2023. We will post further details nearer the time.
Dr Bob Gill talking about how neo-liberalism is dismantling our NHS
Dr Gill spoke about how in this culture of rampant capatalism our healthcare is being restructured to provide profits for private healthcare. He described the NHS now as little more than a funding stream and logo. And went on to paint a terrifying picture of corruption, greed and needless suffering.
His talk was powerful and I would challenge anybody to watch it and not join the fight back towards what we know is right. Dr Huggett had spoken about the times when it had been said that the political and economic system we live with is our only option. It isn’t and we only need to look around the world to see many countries which are run differently. Dr Gill also chose to point out that many countries have healthcare systems which are run differently. Yet Britain is choosing to copy the American model of healthcare. Which is the world’s most expensive and inefficient model. Please watch his video, comment and share with your contacts.
Why we in East Sussex need to join the fight back
Here in Eastbourne we have a large elderly population. They are the people who have paid through their taxes for our hospitals, the equipment and training of staff. They are also the most likely to need to use the healthcare services they paid for. We must not stand by and allow the most vulnerable in our community to be cheated out of services they paid for.
Our county also has a large number of people employed in the NHS. They have been on wage restraint since 2010. The pandemic left them exhausted and often traumatised but then they received another below inflation pay rise. We turned out in vast numbers to offer our applause in the pandemic. So now as they vote on industrial action or prepare to strike we must stand in solidarity with them. For without the staff our NHS is nothing.
We also have a cost of living crisis. This is driving many people into levels of deprivation that I never thought I would see in this country. Poverty is a health risk. We have a widening gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest in society. Regardless of our own personal finances, we have a moral duty to stand up against any attack on the well-being of people in our community. We are not isolated beings whose existence is entirely independent of the existence of others. We are a community and we all have a vested interest in the well-being of each other.
These are tough times, and many of us now are battling poverty, poor health, poor working conditions and more. But there are many more of us who are struggling than the few who benefit from the current politics. And the people at the top need our co-operation to keep this sytem going. We have more power than many of us realise when we act together.
Will you help us fight for our NHS locally?
I was not aware of The Great NHS Heist documentary until January 21st when I saw another screening in Eastbourne but it made feel extremely emotional and upset. I want to get involved and help to fight for the NHS and specifically for NHS East Sussex now I’m living in Eastbourne.
Everyone needs to be made aware of this great documentary including all the amazing NHS workers who need our support right now.
Thank you for arranging the Dr Bob Gill speaker event that ESSNHS Campaign hosted just before Christmas. Bob Gill and Michael Huggett were both speakers. I attended with my son. It was the first time he’d been to an NHS Campaign event. He was greatly impressed. Back home we watch The Great NHS Heist, free on YouTube.
Weep for our NHS and how it has been steadily undermined and dismantled by politicians who are paving the way for an American style insurance based Health Care System.