Bristol BMA’s battle for better conditions
Last month, resident doctors took to the picket line again in their fight for pay restoration, better staffing and decent conditions. Revolutionary Communists in Bristol report on the mood on the ground.
NHS
Streeting set to axe 18,000 NHS jobs: For workers’ democracy, not bureaucracy
Labour’s Blairite health secretary Wes Streeting is cynically using the cover of “slashing bureaucracy” to sack thousands of NHS admin staff. We can’t leave it to Westminster penpushers like Streeting to fix the health service. We need workers’ control!
Broken Britain: Hospitals and schools at breaking point
With Chancellor Rachel Reeves sharpening her knives for the coming Autumn Budget, many will be left thinking “what is there left to cut?”. Everywhere you look – from classroom to NHS waiting rooms – Britain being ripped apart by the billionaire class.
NHS workers on the move: Strike together to beat Streeting!
Several unions representing NHS workers have come out emphatically against Labour’s poor pay offer. The next step is to unite strike action across the unions, with a mass campaign against austerity and privatisation, and for bold socialist policies.
Broken Britain: Make the parasites pay to fix our crumbling services!
From rail to healthcare, vital services are being suffocated by the parasitic ruling class. Starmer’s Labour offer no solutions. To overturn decades of capitalist decline, we say: expropriate the billionaires!
Scotland: Student midwives need a militant fightback!
A report from the Royal College of Midwives has exposed the conditions of Scottish student midwives. Holyrood politicians promise meetings, talks, and discussions; but nothing short of militant action will force these career politicians to remember their promises.
The politicians in Palantir’s pockets – profiteers out of the NHS!
The government has been embroiled in shady dealings with CIA-funded intelligence company Palantir, which has been awarded a £330m NHS contract and access to sensitive healthcare data. Corruption and bribery are built into the capitalist state.
“Patients dying in corridors” – NHS at breaking point
The RCN’s recent report on “corridor care”, which exposes the depth of the NHS crisis, has shocked Britain’s workers and youth. Labour health secretary Wes Streeting’s pathetic response shows Labour has no solutions. Only bold measures can save our NHS.
Scotland’s substance abuse crisis: Capitalism offers no way out
The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland – already the highest in Europe – rose sharply last year. Small tweaks and measures have failed to solve anything. The substance abuse crisis is the product of the poverty capitalism creates.
Nurses reject government pay offer – the NHS isn’t safe in Labour’s hands!
Nurses organised in the RCN have voted to reject the government’s pathetic pay offer, which does nothing to address the years of wage erosion that NHS workers have faced. The stage is set for a new wave of struggle across the public sector.
Covid inquiry reveals devastating impact of Tory incompetence
The recently-released initial report from the COVID-19 inquiry found that the Tory government was ill-prepared for the outbreak, and directly responsible for needless death and suffering. We publish here our readers’ stories from the pandemic.
As doctors’ strikes continue, NHS workers say: No trust in Labour!
Junior doctors in England will return to the picket lines again tomorrow, continuing their long-running struggle over pay. Starmer’s Labour will not save the NHS. Only militant action and socialist policies can win for health workers and patients.
Infected blood scandal – Make the fat-cats pay for this crisis!
After decades of government cover-up, and a long public inquiry, UK victims of a contaminated blood scandal are set to see partial justice. But the capitalist criminals remain at large. We say: Make the billionaires pay! Nationalise Big Pharma!
Drugs consumption and addiction: No solution under capitalism
The opening of a new ‘safe consumption room’ for opioid addicts in Glasgow has opened up a debate about drug use and addiction. Neither criminalisation nor legalisation offer a real solution under capitalism. We must tackle the problem at its root.
Weight-loss drugs and the obesity crisis
Recent years have seen demand for weight-loss medication soar, with Big Pharma firms making fat profits in the process. But expensive drugs are no alternative to genuine access to healthy diets and lifestyles. Capitalism is to blame.
Junior doctors’ strike: Where next for NHS struggles?
While other unions sign up to subpar pay deals, BMA members are continuing to battle on. With the Tories digging in, and the movement divided, doctors must prepare for a bitter struggle. To save our NHS, militant health workers must get organised.
75 years on: The fight to establish the NHS – and to save it today
The NHS was established 75 years ago today. Decades on, however, it is creaking at the seams, due to austerity and privatisation. Junior doctor Will Collins looks at how the NHS was founded, and how the capitalists have pushed it to the brink.
Kick capitalism out of our NHS!
To mark the 75th anniversary since the NHS was founded, Socialist Appeal comrades working in healthcare are calling on nurses, doctors, and hospital staff to join us in campaigning to kick out the profiteers and save our NHS with socialist policies.
Junior doctors’ strike: Militancy on the picket lines
Junior doctors recently returned to picket lines at NHS hospitals across England and Wales, with a growing mood for escalation. Radical junior doctors must get organised to spread these demands and raise the need for revolutionary ideas.
Unite the strikes to save our NHS!
Junior doctors are back on strike this week, as the Tories refuse to yield to their demand for full pay restoration. With other struggles in healthcare continuing, it is vital that the unions coordinate action to kick capitalism out of our NHS.
Fear and loathing in UK hospitals: Save our NHS with socialist policies!
A review into conditions at hospitals in Birmingham has revealed a toxic culture of intimidation and fear – adding to the stress on overworked staff, and undermining patient safety. Health workers must fight back with clear socialist policies.
NHS strikes: Defiant doctors continue struggle as nurses reject offer
Junior doctors have undertaken another round of strikes this week, while other health workers have voted on the Tories’ insulting pay offer. To advance, the struggle in the NHS requires militant coordinated action and bold socialist demands.
UK life expectancy flatlines: Product of a sick system
Recent data shows that life expectancy in Britain has plateaued over the last decade, and has even fallen for the poorest. Hundreds of thousands are dying before their time, due to austerity, inequality, and overwork. Capitalism is killing us.
NHS strikes: Reject rotten deals! For fighting union leadership!
Following backroom negotiations with Tory ministers, union leaders are recommending acceptance of a paltry pay offer for health workers. Grassroots members should mobilise to reject this deal – and demand fighting leadership and militant action.
BMA pickets: Junior doctors show determination to win
Midway through their walkout, the mood amongst striking junior doctors is one of confidence and enthusiasm. Tomorrow they will be bolstered by action across the public sector. The trade unions must unite and escalate their struggles to win.
Junior doctors strike back – Save our NHS with socialist policies!
Junior doctors organised in the BMA are striking this week, joining other public sector workers in the struggle for decent pay and conditions. Austerity and privatisation are killing our NHS. Only bold socialist policies can save it.
‘The kids aren’t alright’: The system is sick
The uncertainty and chaos of capitalism finds its reflection in the epidemic of mental health issues amongst young people. At the same time, austerity and inflation are restricting access to services and support. We must fight to transform society.
Nurses set to escalate the struggle: All out for victory!
Following several rounds of walkouts, and with the Tories refusing to budge, nurses are set to step up their strike action over pay and conditions. To win, health workers must unite with other unions and fight for a clear socialist alternative.
The scourge of outsourcing: Fight for public ownership and workers’ control!
Despite repeated disasters, outsourcing is thriving in Britain’s public services. This is the logical outcome of capitalism in crisis, as parasitic bosses seek new sources of profit. The labour movement must fight for public ownership.
Labour and the NHS: Streeting’s plans are no solution
The NHS faces an existential crisis, with the Tories promising further austerity and privatisation. Starmer’s Labour, meanwhile, is offering more of the same. To save our healthcare system, we need bold socialist policies.
NHS catastrophe: Support the strikers! Kick out the profiteers!
The NHS is in the midst of a deep crisis. Chaos is unfolding in A&Es, with record-breaking wait times. This catastrophe has been a long time coming – the result of years of austerity and privatisation. But health workers are fighting back.
Ambulance workers strike – Fight for the NHS!
Striking ambulance workers are taking a stand against attacks on their pay and conditions. We spoke to workers at the picket lines, who are ready to fight tooth and nail for victory and the future of the NHS.
NHS on the brink: Tories to blame
In our latest episode of Marxist Voice, we speak to Dr Raj Mistry – a junior doctor in a hard-hit hospital in South East England – about the COVID catastrophe that is currently pushing the NHS to breaking point.
Fight the pandemic profiteers – Nationalise Big Pharma!
News of potentially viable vaccines offers a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. But whilst workers will bear the brunt of the coronavirus crisis, the major pharmaceutical monopolies are laughing all the way to the bank.
Interview with an NHS doctor: Tories are “paving the way for privatisation”
Capitalism is pushing us into a crisis of healthcare in Britain. Austerity in the NHS is having serious implications for the quality of patient care and the working conditions of those who look after us when we are sick. We publish here an interview with a junior doctor working in a central London hospital, which gives an insight into the situation facing the NHS today.
Letter from an NHS worker: Tory victory is “a punch in the stomach”
We publish here a letter from a mental health services worker in the NHS, who outlines the reality of what the Tory election victory, austerity and cuts, and the crisis of capitalism mean for the lives of ordinary people who rely on NHS services.
The real life effects of NHS privatisation
We publish here a letter from one of our regular readers, who describes the story of a female worker in the NHS and the horrific experiences she has had to endure as a result of privatisation and the pursuit of profit inside the health service. Her story is all too likely to be similar to those of many other workers in those services that have been privatised and outsourced.
“Bad Pharma” – A Review
Pharmaceutical companies bend or withhold scientific data and lie about their drugs, in ways which endanger, harm or kill sick people, to make a profit. That is the shocking reality laid bare in Ben Goldacre’s new book, ‘Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients’. This is a prime example of the way the profit motive rewarded by Capitalism stands in front of human progress.