Kirklees NHS petition reflects public concerns about health service privatisation and untried ‘Care Closer to Home’ scheme

On 28 May representatives of Dewsbury Keep Our NHS Public and North Kirklees NHS Support Group presented a petition from 1,258 local people to Cllr Viv Kendrick, Chair of Kirklees Health and Wellbeing Board, at its monthly meeting.

Comprising 3 scrolls, with a combined length of over 18m, the petition called on the Health and Wellbeing Board to:

  • not give contracts to irresponsible companies who have been found to have defrauded the Government or who have left patients with unsafe levels of health service provision
  • consider the need for staff who work for private contractors to receive a living wage
  • press NHS England and the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to accept these demands. Continue reading