Although the House of Commons has passed the second reading of the Care Bill, including clause 118 that allows closure of hospitals and hospital departments without proper public consultation, the campaign against the Hospital closure clause is set to gather momentum in the New Year.
Calderdale 38 Degrees is holding a stall in St George’s Square, Hebden Bridge between 10am and 12 noon on Saturday 21st December and you can find out more there. The theme of the stall is opposition to NHS privatisation and to A&E service reductions and closures.
38 Degrees will continue the Hospital closure clause petition and are aiming for quarter of a million signatures – so please forward the petition to friends and colleagues.
The Care Bill now goes to committee stage where it can be amended and then goes back to the Commons for final voting in February or possibly early March.
38 Degrees plan to step up the campaign in January with intensive lobbying of MPs and public events to highlight the dangers of this clause.
On a festive note, the Lewisham NHS choir single “Bridge Over You” has been doing well having reached number 15 in the independent single charts and no 4 on Amazon download charts but and they are hoping it will get into the Xmas top 10 – it needs lots of downloads this week to do so. With its accompanying video celebrating the caring ethos of the NHS, it would be such a tremendous boost for NHS staff morale if this single got into the top 10. All proceeds go to charity including 50% to the MacMillan cancer charity.