NHS march on the Isle of Wight
If the right to healthcare is to be guaranteed in society, then decision-making has to pass to the people who need these services, which includes the people who staff the NHS. Decisions over authorising resources and their allocation, where the money goes and what part of the budget is obtained for investment and staff pay and conditions cannot be left as they are. And where they are presently is at the behest of the neo-liberal agenda of the private cartels and corporations, which is increasingly who the Department of Health and NHS England represent.
The situation is further revealing how the rights of health workers cannot be separated from the right of all to health care. The right to healthcare for all and the rights of health care staff are one. Besides the trade unions and staff associations, there are campaigns in existence across the country around most hospitals under attack in which the working class movement, and particularly health staff, needs to take the lead.
The way forward is for health staff to organise with their own independent political stands and activities within their workplaces, within their communities and within society as a whole. The necessity is to disempower those who are trying to marginalise people and disunite them. Although victories are not always won, or are partial, the fight goes on to become the decision makers in society and for a health service that meets the needs of all, including the staff who work in it.
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