{"id":15405,"date":"2018-06-19T15:44:39","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T14:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15405"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:41","slug":"ournhs70-unite-celebrates-nhs-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15405","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Our NHS&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>More than 100,000 people are expected to take to the streets in London on June 30 to celebrate the NHS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 achievements and founding principles as the health service marks its 70<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The #OurNHS70 march, organised by Health Campaigns Together, the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly and health unions including Unite, is also being supported by the <em>Daily Mirror<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The march will start in Central London near Oxford Circus and will wind its way to Downing Street, where protesters will make key demands of the government \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to properly fund and staff the health service; to maintain a publicly funded NHS that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s free for all; to support health workers; and to provide world class services for every community.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e3-3V1PLobg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Funding shortfall<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The build-up to the #OurNHS70 march and rally on June 30 comes as prime minister Theresa May announced on Sunday (June 17) that the government <a href=\"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/bare-minimum\/\">would be giving the NHS an additional \u00c2\u014120bn in funding<\/a>, amounting to only a 3 per cent increase in overall health spending.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The independent think tank <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifs.org.uk\/publications\/13078\">Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated<\/a> that the NHS would need at the very least a 4 per cent uplift in funding to resolve the health service\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most pressing problems, after a decade of squeezed finances that have led to long waiting times and chronic staff shortages.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The shortfall in NHS funding prompted more than 100 health staff, including GPs, consultants, nurses, junior doctors and others to write an open letter to the prime minister.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLess than 4% means the NHS will continue to deteriorate and our patients continue to suffer,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/politics\/100-senior-nhs-doctors-nurses-12731132\"> the letter, which was also signed by Doctors in Unite members, read. \u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe NHS needed a funding increase that would ensure that never again will we see the scenes in our hospitals and A&amp;Es of needless suffering and tragic deaths. Of patients waiting on hospital trolleys unable to get a bed or of ambulances stacked in queues unable to hand over their patients.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>#OurNHS70 march organisers are encouraging all who attend on the day to dress in the style of any of the eight decades the NHS has existed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there will be themed areas with matching music where marchers can gather.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady said that nearly \u00e2\u20ac\u015beveryone has a reason to thank the NHS,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 as she encouraged all to attend the demo on June 30.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe best way to thank the health service for taking care of us is to demand that the government take better care of it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail agreed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015b2018 is truly a year to celebrate as a milestone for the NHS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c seven decades of a remarkable universal health service that is a shining example of human accomplishment for people around the globe,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut as we celebrate, we must also remind ourselves that the challenges facing our NHS are unprecedented,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Cartmail added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf it is to go on another 70 years, we have to fight for it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for proper funding, proper staff pay and for its ultimate, sacrosanct principle: healthcare for all, free at the point of use.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite general secretary Len McCluskey likewise encouraged all to attend June\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demo.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt&#8217;s the 70th birthday of the greatest thing we&#8217;ve ever achieved in our lifetime, here in Britain &#8212; the National Health Service,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe&#8217;re demonstrating not only to celebrate the magnificent work that has happened all those years but to send a clear message to this Tory government that we&#8217;re not going to have them take it away from us. It&#8217;s our NHS and let get out on the streets and defend it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Find out all the details you need to know about the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk\/nhs_70\">#OurNHS70 march at the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly website<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitetheunion.org\/campaigning\/events\/celebrate-70-years-of-our-nhs\/\">book free Unite transport to the event here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 100,000 people are expected to take to the streets in London on June 30 to celebrate the NHS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 achievements and founding principles as the health service marks its 70th anniversary. &nbsp; The #OurNHS70 march, organised by Health Campaigns Together, the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly and health unions including Unite, is also being supported by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[29,72,938],"wps_subtitle":"Unite to celebrate 70 years of care at #OurNHS70 march and rally","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15405"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26126,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15405\/revisions\/26126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}