By Corine Dhondee
In November 2010 the Daily Mirror ran a report. ‘Hospitals for critically ill children face savage budget cuts in the latest betrayal from the ConDem coalition.
Previously unpublished figures seen by the Mirror show that millions of pounds will be slashed from the budgets of Britain’s major children’s hospitals.
Great Ormond Street in London, Liverpool’s Alder Hey and Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham children’s hospitals are all braced for major cuts.
Health chiefs warn of “extremely serious” consequences for the care of critically ill children.
And one of the chief executives has admitted privately that the whole future of his hospital is at stake if the money is taken away.
The budgets are being slashed by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley in a drive to make the hospitals more “efficient” – breaking a pre-election pledge from his leader David Cameron that he wouldn’t cut frontline NHS services’.
Since then cuts have seen children’s clinics and vital children’s services fighting closure, paediatric wards closing, and the laying off of play nurses. It is happening quickly and the major difficulty in reporting the size of the cuts is the veil of silence forced on NHS staff. They have been warned not to speak about cuts to services and jobs.
On March 23rd 2011 a parents and children’s protest was held outside Great Ormond Street Childrens hospital to coincide with a visit from Andrew Lansley. Lansley didn’t turn up. Perhaps the idea of speaking to parents whose children’s lives depend on NHS services he is cutting was too great a challenge.
Many parents felt his no show was a sign of defeat for the Tories. One dad whose son was treated in Great Ormond Street said, ‘he hasn’t shown up and that means he’s scared of us. We have shown him that we do not believe his lies. If we were not here, he would have shown up. Today is a victory for us and we will continue fighting until the health bill is thrown out and Lansley to’.
The protest outside Great Ormond Street organised by NHS direct action with Unite and Right to Work attracted a lot of parents and children. There were balloons and painting for children. Parents had a simple message for Lansley, ‘hands off our NHS’.
One mum, whose son has been treated in Great Ormond Street and London spoke about her experiences of the NHS and asked everyone to stand up for the NHS.
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