Health campaigners call for MP to show some 'courage' (From Haringey Independent)

Health campaigners call for MP Lynne Featherstone to show some 'courage' by opposing health bill

11:08am Monday 13th February 2012 in News By Hermione Wright

Haringey health campaigners will encourage MP Lynne Featherstone on Thursday to show some "courage" by opposing the proposed Health and Social Care Bill.

Members of the campaigning group, Defend Haringey Health Services Coalition, will encourage Mrs Featherstone, who is the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, to challenge the proposed changes to the NHS, which would be brought in next year.

The discussion, at 2pm in Wood Green Library, will also call for Mrs Featherstone to demand Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to publish the NHS risk register, which was commissioned by the Department of Health to assess the future bill.

Janet Shapiro, a member of the Defend Haringey Health Services Coalition, said: “We already have huge inequalities among the borough, but this will make inequalities among the borough much worse.

“Lynne Featherstone hasn’t shown courage because she is a cabinet minister, but the bill is so shaky.

“The bill is irresponsible and fragmented. It is a complete upheaval which will be very damaging to the NHS, and there’s no need for it.”

She said inequality is a big issue with the proposed health bill, which could leave large numbers of migrant workers in the borough being unable to afford health care.

The changes to the NHS include GPs being given more responsibility of the NHS budget, and the health service being opened up to greater competition from the private and voluntary sector.

Mrs Shapiro said the campaign group tried to gain Mrs Featherstone’s support during a similar lobby last year, but was unable to sway her from the party line.

She said the group has been campaigning for more than a year to show people that the proposed changes to NHS are “stupid.”