Virtually everyone reading this will have used the National Health Service (at birth or later) or know someone else who has. Residents in the UK have had access to this free vital service for almost 70 years (see petition to save Isle of Wight GPs).
This Saturday
This coming Saturday (4th March) thousands of people from around the country will be gathering in London for an event organised by Health Campaigns Together and The People’s Assembly.
The gathering will be made up of doctors, nurses, medical students and us, the ordinary people who use and value the NHS.
These people will be coming together to send a message to those who hold the future of the NHS in their hands.
It doesn’t need to be political – it’s simply a display of support for the service that supports rich and poor. Protecting the NHS for our children and grandchildren, so they can benefit as previous generations have.
Join others in London – free coach from the Island
There are around a dozen available (free) seats on a return coach from the Isle of Wight.
The cost of travel is free, but donations will be welcomed. If you’d like to book a seat head over to the EventBrite page.
Meet at the Coppins Bridge car park (the upper Cineworld one) at 7am (leaving 7.10am) on Saturday morning to catch the 8am Fishbourne ferry.
The coach will be returning from London at approximately 4pm to catch the 7pm Portsmouth Ferry.
Save Isle of Wight GPs
If you can’t make it on Saturday, you can also help locally. A plan by the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to reshape the Island’s GP service could see GP surgeries in Brading, Godshill, Lake, Niton and Yarmouth close, with patients having to travel much further than usual to see a GP.
A petition created by Rosemary Cantwell has attracted over 500 signatures and will run until 30th May 2017.
Rosemary is urging residents to support the petition to let the CCG know their feelings about the plans.
Image: rohinfrancis under CC BY 2.0
