Health bosses on the Isle of Wight have today approved recommendations from the Local Care Board to go ahead with major changes to how health care is provided on the Island.
The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) met today to consider the recommendations, which include more complex, urgent care patients being transferred for specialist care on the mainland (11%).
Lowthion: “We cannot stand for it”
In response to the decision, Vix Lowthion, spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Green Party said,
“This announcement must be deeply concerning for Islanders. Whilst there is clearly a role that technology can play to reduce some needless travelling, and the ambition for health services to be accessed in the local community from our own homes is a worthy one, be under no illusion. This Conservative Government have been moving for years to weaken our NHS so that the private sector can encroach on it even more. This has been Jeremy Hunt’s plan all along. And we cannot stand for it.
“The Green Party has always campaigned for a publicly run NHS – both myself and Caroline Lucas MP visited last year and toured around the Emergency Department. We saw first hand the pressures our doctors and staff face. They are wonderful, and like many public service workers are doing their utmost under very difficult circumstances.”
Take part in the consultation
Vix went on to say,
“I urge all Islanders to be fully engaged in the public consultation on these cuts which begins tomorrow.
“Members of every political party and the wider public must work together on a non party political platform to fight these appalling plans most effectively.
“It is OUR NHS – it belongs to the people, and we won’t let it go without a fight.”
Critchley: “Islanders are right to be concerned”
Julian Critchley, Island Labour’s Parliamentary Spokesperson said:
“The decision to cut NHS funding and remove services from the Island is a political one, and each time a Tory councillor or our Tory MP pops up to support the cuts to St Mary’s while dishonestly claiming it’s not political, it merely serves to underline that point. These cuts are not some unavoidable natural disaster: they are the consequence of political choices made by the Conservative government and supported by the Conservative councillors locally.
“Islanders are right to be concerned. These aren’t the first cuts to our NHS on the Island, and they will not be the last under a Conservative government still wedded to failed austerity policies, and committed to privatisation of the NHS. In the long-term, only a Labour government will reverse the Tory cuts and fund an NHS based on need. In the short-term, we must continue to ensure that we register our opposition to this appalling policy.”
Save our NHS march
Julian went on to say,
“Islanders will be marching against the cuts to St Mary’s on Saturday (3rd Feb), when we will be walking from the hospital to Newport town centre.
“I urge concerned Islanders to join us if they can. In the longer term, people should write to their local Tory councillor, and to Bob Seely, to make it clear to them that we will not stand for this, and that there will be political consequences for them as a result of this political decision to put the health and wellbeing of Islanders at risk.”
Belfitt: “Enough is enough”
The Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary spokesperson, Nick Belfitt, said,
“This announcement is extremely worrying and nothing short of the start of us losing our only hospital on the Island. But Islanders shouldn’t see this as just a one-off cut because of Conservative austerity. It’s a continuation of previous governments in moving the Island’s services away from the Island and centralising them.
“Whether it’s been Red or Blue in Westminster, the Island and the NHS has lost out. The Isle of Wight Lib Dems proposed two very simple ideas at the General election, we needed emergency funding to the NHS nationally, which we would have done through our 1p tax and an Island Policy which would have given the Island protection from losing further services. I urge Islanders to push their local councillors and MP to back both ideas as we desperately need them.
“While I share solidarity with protestors on Saturday and encourage people to attend, I would urge the Mr Seely to realise the situation in the NHS and begin to back policy that can protect our services.
“Enough is enough, the Island has faced some of the worst cuts across other parts of health care including sexual health. This go further then simple cuts this is a systematic attack on the Island and our community.”
Responses from other political parties will be added once we receive them.
Article edit
Comment added from Nick Belfitt
