UKUncut, NHS workers and patients to welcome Olympic torch with Sheffield Save our NHS- Don't let them torch it!

The Olympics and the NHS:

In 1948 the UK hosted the Olympic Games[i], in the same year the National Health Service was officially founded on the principles of free and accessible healthcare for all[ii]. Now 64 years later the UK is once again preparing to welcome the Olympics to its shores and the NHS faces the greatest threat it has ever faced.

The lib-dem/conservative coalition government are implementing over 20billions pounds[iii] worth of cuts to the NHS over the next few years, cuts which will result in thousands of redundancies and loss of vital services across the country. Meanwhile the recently passed ‘health and social care bill’ has paved the way for the government to begin selling off sections of our health service to private investors, whose motivation lies in profit before people. [iv]

Olympic Legacy and Healthcare cuts:

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has recently announced that 30 million pounds funding will be granted to the development of a ‘sports medicine centre of excellence’and has announced that Sheffield will be one of three cities in our region where this development will take place.[v] Andrew Cash, the chief executive of the Sheffield teaching hospitals trust has welcomed the move, which he believes will reduce health in-equalities in our region. However, in a climate where over £120 million pounds are set to be cut from the Sheffield teaching hospitals trust alone and several valuable services for the elderly are under threat,[vi] we believe these claims are superficial and hypocritical. If Lansley and local NHS bosses are serious about reducing health inequalities in our area then they should stop cutting our jobs and services and stop the wholes distribution of our health service to private investors.[vii]

Save Our NHS Sheffield:

As we celebrate the first Olympic games in our country since 1948 and as the Olympic torch passes our hospitals on 25 June, join Sheffield Save our NHS in protecting the founding principles of the national health service from its creation in 1948:

• Quality and accessible healthcare, free at the point of delivery for all

• A publicly owned health service that puts people before profit

Further Information:

Contact:www.sheffieldsaveournhs.co.uk - http://ssonhs.blogspot.com

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[i] http://www.olympic.org/london-1948-summer-olympics

[ii] http://www.nursingtimes.net/the-birth-of-the-nhs-july-5th-1948/441954.article

[iii] http://nhsalert.org.uk/blog/entry/reform-bill-and-cuts-will-mean-fewer-beds-for-nhs-patients/

[iv] http://allysonpollock.co.uk/index.php?option=com_article&tag=privatisation&view=search&order=id

[v] http://www.shef.ac.uk/news/nr/sports-medicine-centre-1.174427

[vi] http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/200-jobs-at-risk-from-homes-axe-1-4264340

[vii] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/9193015/Healthy-competition-in-the-NHS-is-a-sick-joke.html

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