Dear Supporter

Sadly, healthcare in Hackney goes from bad to worse.

You probably know that the Homerton has a financial shortfall of around £7 million - not due to financial mismanagement, but entirely due to changes to the national tariff just before the beginning of the financial year.

Bart's and the London - very much relied on by Hackney people for specialist services such as cancer care and cardiac care - is pushing through a reported £30 million cuts.

City and Hackney Primary Care Trust provides local community services, like health visiting and district nursing. At the PCT, we have already lost around £13 million through a Government initiative called 'top slicing'. The PCT is now implementing much smaller cuts (£701,000) as part of the Government's Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS policy. The PCT is using this as an opportunity to drive through a major restructuring of services, with over 10% of staff told that their posts will be deleted. Many will find jobs in the new structure, but others will not. The job cuts are leading to huge demoralisation at the PCT. Trade union activists at the Trust believe that there is already real damage to patient care.

Local trade unionists are also worried that far more Black and Minority Ethnic staff are having their posts deleted than would be expected by chance. We already know that very few Black and Minority Ethnic staff make it to senior positions in the PCT. Now, BME staff are more likely to lose their posts at almost every level of the organisation.

The PCT is also signed up to the introduction of private GPs (already established in Hackney, but set to expand under a new initiative). This is a link to the Guardian article. The privatisation of GP services represents a major Government attack on the NHS.

There is an urgent need to build the campaign to defend the NHS, locally and nationally.

Gill George

Chair, Keep Hackney NHS Public

Two activities:

Leafleting and petitioning:

1pm Saturday 3rd June

Stoke Newington Post Office

(corner of Stoke Newington High Street & Brooke Road)

6.30pm Wednesday 7th June

Keep Hackney NHS Public

Organising meeting - all welcome

Centreprise, 136/138 Kingsland High St, E8 2NS

(Downstairs meeting room)