Socialism and Health, the magazine of the Socialist Health Association Winter2010 Despite promising not to, the ConDem coalition has launched the biggest ever reorganisation of our NHS. This will be taking place as NHS funding is cut by a staggering £20bn or 20%, that‟s about £1,000 a year for every family. This issue contains a discussion of the Government's proposals for the NHS and our reaction to them. It doesn‟t say much about health and what creates health, because the Government‟s proposals for public health have not yet appeared. But it is already clear that there will be a substantial assault on the welfare state and on benefits for the people who are sick and unemployed. That will do more damage to the health of the population than reorganising the NHS It also contains our plan for future activity. We will have to become again what we used to be, a campaigning organisation. We need more members to become more active. We need to make health a political issue again (as it wasn't in the General Election) and we need to support the shadow health team and Labour councillors and candidates. Our core role is championing the interests of patients, supported by a healthcare system that is universal and of high quality and free at the point of use. We are not restricted to health or social care. We are interested and knowledgeable about health and what produces and destroys it. We understand both economic and health inequality, occupational health, social security benefits and their relationship with the health of individuals and communities. And if we don‟t we can find people who do.
Inside this issue: The White Paper— 2 Equity and Excellence Foundation Trusts
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Our 5 Year Plan
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From 1918 to 1961 the UK national debt was over 100% of GDP. During that period the government introduced the welfare state, the NHS, state pensions, comprehensive education, built millions of council houses, and nationalised a range of industries. The public sector grew and there was economic growth. Today, the coalition government wants to turn back the clock. It is set on dismantling the NHS and comprehensive education, and it is attacking the welfare state. It is not doing this because the country is on the verge of economic collapse, it is doing it because it is ideologically opposed to public services and the welfare state. Cutting public sector jobs will increase unemployment. This would mean increased costs for government in benefit payments and lost tax revenue. If people‟s incomes are taken away or cut through pay freezes they will spend less. Less consumer spending means cuts in the private sector, and lower VAT revenues. Leaked documents estimated that over the next six years 600,000 public sector jobs would be cut, and 700,000 private sector jobs would also be lost – based on the current government‟s policies. The government claims it can make cuts of between 25% and 40%, and still “protect frontline public services”. This is impossible – not just because „frontline services‟ are being cut, but because services rely on „back office‟ support staff. (Thanks to PCS for graph and figures)