In West Somerset Labour member took part in a day of action in support of the NHS   Cllr Robin Nuttall (Watchet) said “Approximately 30 people met at Minehead  hospital and marched to Wellington Square in the town centre where we distributed leaflets & stickers as well as collecting signatures for the national petition. Then we went on to Watchet where we left leaflets on the counters of many main road shops & cafés. Special thanks to  Pebbles Tavern for offering to take some petition forms and encourage customers to sign them.”

Time is running out for the NHS

Branch members have led the call to mobilise and heed the call for a united display of discontent after the harrowing details of patients left to die on trolleys in a corridor at Worcester Royal Hospital were published earlier this week.  Branch Membership Secretary Cllr. Robin Nuttall has co-ordinated the protests, starting at 9.00am on Minehead seafront and set to disperse among a wider area later in the day.  “Time is running out for our NHS” he said, as he set about contacting over 300 members and supporters spread across the area to outline his plans.  “The response has been terrific” said Cllr. Nuttall, “I’ve had so many replies from people pledging support that I only hope the 2,000 leaflets in our pack are going to be enough!”

 Moving Accounts of Personal Experiences

“I’ve had contact from people relating their personal experiences of how stressed the NHS is and how it affected them, and some of them are very moving” he said.  “One lady told of how when her two-year old daughter needed specialist treatment in Bristol, there was a wait of over 24 hours for an ambulance. This was apparently explained to her as being due to the fact that there’s only ONE paediatric emergency vehicle to cover the whole of the South West AND South Wales. This is quite simply unacceptable”.

Public Outcry

Cllr. Nuttall has also written to his membership to remind them of what a ‘Public Outcry’ should really mean.  “Such is the threat to the continuance of the NHS that I find it incomprehensible why there shouldn’t be a very real “Public Outcry” about the Tory plans to dismantle it and hand it over to their chums. In the past I have only ever witnessed “Public Outcries” as being the front page articles in leading establishment newspapers and more recently, by the now-hamstrung BBC, since the Tories have a knife at their throat over funding.  Imagine what effect a genuine “Public Outcry” may have if our MP were to receive a mass of emails protesting at the handling of the NHS?  We all have the power to make this happen with just a few keystrokes of our computers so let’s do it; don’t wait; things won’t be ‘alright in the morning’ so let’s do it now!”

Appeal to Humanity

In an email to Bridgwater & Somerset MP Mr Ian Liddell-Granger Robin pleaded for him to turn away from the destructive practices of his government’s handling of the NHS. In the full text of his letter he wrote;

To:

Ian Liddell-Grainger MP

liddelli@parliament.uk

“I’m writing to you about the NHS funding crisis. I’m shocked that two people died on hospital trolleys last week at the Worcester Royal Hospital after waiting hours to be seen.

I know the government keep saying the NHS will be getting more money by 2020. But I’m concerned about the crisis this winter. As your constituent, I want to ask you myself to please speak to Jeremy Hunt on my behalf.

Please will you also update me on what you are personally doing to make sure our NHS gets the funding it needs?

I sent this email to you as a worried member of the public who is himself waiting for a hospital appointment to undergo a surgical procedure. I think I have a reasonable expectation to receive treatment for my condition from a competent, unstressed and professional team wholly supported by an NHS who have had my trust and confidence for my entire life until recently. I for one don’t want to have to navigate my way around trolleys parked in corridors while teams of Red Cross workers attempt to resuscitate the unfortunate occupiers of those trolleys who have passed away whilst awaiting medical attention.

I realise that as a richly rewarded MP you are never going to have to face a situation like mine, but I still believe that it must be within your capacity to imagine what it feels like for those of us who are not able to set our own salaries and so are locked out of the options to pay for private operations.

Please, if you have any humanity at all, do not continue to lend your support to the discreditation and ensuing dismantling of the NHS which before the meddling of the last two parliaments, was the envy of the civilised world.

Thank you”