The Petition

This is a petition and a campaign that has been started by the Pontypridd Constituency Labour Party following a public meeting which was called as a result of local peoples’ desire to show solidarity with those protesting against the dismantling of the English NHS. We call upon other Welsh organisations and individuals to support the petition and join the campaign which is entirely open to all who wish to support the NHS as a UK service that is free at the point of need and is subject to democratic control of the UK and devolved parliaments and assemblies.

To the Coalition government,

Our NHS is precious - we won't forgive you if you ruin it


Don’t break up our health service and hand it to private healthcare companies
Listen to the real experts - doctors, nurses and patients - when they give warnings about these plans
Don't rush through massive changes without testing them properly first
Protect patient care - don't cut beds, wards, doctors or nurses
Consequently we call upon you to withdraw the entire Health and Social Care Bill from Parliament

A Welsh campaign against the changes proposed to the English NHS in the Health and Social Care Bill

This campaign is being created to both show solidarity with those already protesting against the Bill in England, and to highlight the direct and indirect impact that the Bill will have upon Wales.

The Bill, which will lead to the gradual break-up and privatisation of the English NHS, already  contains measures to abolish important NHS Bodies such as the National Patient Safety Agency and the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator, which currently operate on an England and Wales basis, replacement of which will entail direct cost implications for the Welsh Government. Even more importantly, the Bill will have grave implications for the provision and cost of specialist care which is currently provided for Welsh NHS patients in English centres of excellence, such as paediatric services at Alder Hey or renal care in Birmingham. How such services will be provided on a cross border basis, as English GPs take responsibility for commissioning of all such care in England, remains entirely unclear. For Welsh patients in border areas, primary care services may also be profoundly affected. 

For clinical and support staff in the English NHS the changes will be equally dramatic, with terms and conditions set to vary right across the Service, as local commissioners are given the discretion to vary pay and other allowances according to local whim. These changes will, in turn, have significant, unpredictable implications for Welsh NHS workers.

Lastly, we believe that the NHS, born out of Wales and Aneurin Bevan’s inspiration by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, is a vital, civilising aspect of our society, reflective of Labour’s values of mutual support and social solidarity. Devolution and the Welsh Labour Government may mean that we in Wales are insulated from the worst impacts of the Tories’ ideological reforms in England, but that should not in any way deter us from expressing our deep disagreement with the measures proposed and our support for English Labour colleagues, NHS workers, clinicians and citizens who are campaigning against their adoption. 

Statement from Dr Geoff Lloyd, GP on proposed NHS reforms

"As a GP, I feel most concerned about the possible disastrous consequences of being encouraged to refer my patients to private health care providers as an alternative to the NHS. I feel the inevitable end result of this will be disinvestment in the NHS leading to cherry picking of more profitable areas by private companies, and the running down of other facilities. It can only be a matter of time before we degenerate into an American type system whereby if you want to receive higher quality health care, you will be obliged to take out additional insurance.

For most ordinary people, to  embrace such a system willingly seems utter madness to me. I feel the NHS is one of the greatest British achievements in history, and would like to see it preserved for future generations."

Dr Geoff Lloyd