Our NHS – Your chance to shape its future – George leads public debate
National nurse leader Dr Peter Carter and local NHS chief Dr Colin Philip will join local MP Andrew George at a public meeting to present their visions for the future of the NHS.
The meeting will take place on Friday 20th February 2015, 7pm, at the lecture theatre of Penwith College, St Clare Street, Penzance, TR18 2SA.
Mr George, who is also a leading NHS campaigner and a member of the powerful House of Commons Health Select Committee, has called on Dr Carter and Dr Philip to join him to discuss national and local challenges and opportunities in the NHS. They will be joined by other local clinicians, managers and health campaigners.
At a national level Mr George has: led campaigns on safe nurse staffing on hospital wards with the Safe Staffing Alliance; supported the campaign for fair pay, against the Government’s 1% pay rise; campaigned against the Government’s massive reorganisation of the NHS, and putting patients before profits; has fought against the “race to the bottom” of home care, and for better integration of health and social care.
Locally, he has led the campaign for better out of hours GP cover, encouraged local health commissioners to integrate health services and is pushing Cornwall Council and NHS Kernow to pursue plans to join management and budget regimes. He has also fought plans to cut community hospital beds – including at Poltair Hospital – and to support NHS staff.
“The NHS has gone through the most challenging of reorganisations, staff morale has also been challenged by pay freezes, changes in conditions and the increasing pressure of work.
“Withholding a pay rise, understaffing on wards, increasing parking and registration fees for nurses and Tory plans to remove anti-social hours pay for nurses are all contributing increasingly difficult conditions on hospital wards. We rely on nurses and carers as the backbone of the NHS, and cuts to provision are contributing to the NHS crisis we are seeing.
“I’m pleased that Peter Carter has agreed to visit to give us a national perspective and that Colin Philip has made himself available to explain what NHS Kernow plans are and to answer questions.”