MARCH ON SATURDAY 29TH- SAVE OUR DGH

Eastbourne Trades Council is proud to be supporting the march and rally led by the GMB union but not just for GMB members: every member of the public, every patient and every member of staff should really be involved in fighting back to Protect our Hospital, to protect East Sussex community health services being lost during any forthcoming tendering process, and to protect the under-resourced and over-worked healthcare professionals who despite being treated appallingly never fail to provide the very best patient service delivery they possibly can.

There is now a real and present threat that the Accident and Emergency Department could be downgraded to a cottage hospital-style Minor Injury unit, and not available at night.



COME AND MARCH FOR OUR DGH- SATURDAY 29th NOVEMBER

The march will set off from Eastbourne Pier at 10.30am for a march through the town centre, followed by a rally at the Wish Tower green.  

Tell Stephen Lloyd to oppose NHS Privatisation this Friday

An important campaign from 38 Degrees:

Urgent: on Friday, MPs will vote on a new law to rein in NHS privatisation. If it passes, it would scrap the worst parts of the Health and Social Care Act - the terrible law which is forcing the steady privatisation and break-up of our health service.

The new law will also keep the NHS out of TTIP - the US-EU trade agreement that threatens to lock privatisation into public services. It’s simple: this new law would be great for our NHS.

Can you sign a petition to your MP asking them to turn up and vote the right way on Friday? MPs aren’t used to being the target of petitions: the last thing they want is hundreds of their constituents banding together. So the bigger this petition is, the more likely your MP is to listen.

Click here to tell Stephen LloydMP to vote to save our NHS on Friday:

Since the Health and Social Care Act passed in 2012, 38 Degrees members have watched in horror as health privatisation has gathered pace. In just one year, over £10bn of NHS funding ended up in the hands of profit-hungry companies. Our health service is under threat.

And now, with the government refusing to keep the NHS out of TTIP, it’s in even more danger. If TTIP goes through, and the NHS stays in the deal, it’ll be open season for private healthcare companies.

It’ll be a hard vote to win. But our NHS is worth fighting for even when the odds are against us. And win or not, politicians need to know that 38 Degrees members haven’t given up or gone away - we’re still here, we still care, and we’ll take every opportunity to get rid of privatisation in our NHS.

So let's send each and every one of our MPs a clear message: we believe in a public NHS that provides decent care for everyone, whenever we need it. We will never sit back while our health service is under threat - and we will take every chance we have to try and save it.

Please click here to sign the petition to your MP now, calling on them to turn up this Friday and vote to save the NHS


Thanks for being involved,

Susannah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team


PS: This Friday's vote is on a "Private Members' Bill" - a law proposed by a backbench MP. In this case, it's proposed by a backbench Labour MP called Clive Efford. That means it will be particularly hard to get enough Lib Dem or Conservative MPs to vote for it! But public pressure has persuaded MPs to break ranks with their own party before, so let’s give it a go. Please sign the petition to your MP now:

March for our NHS- 29th November

There is a GMB-organised march against cuts at Eastbourne DGH, on Saturday 29th November at 10.30am. Help them send a clear message that we want to protect services at Eastbourne DGH. Please share.  Meet at the pier.

Gary Palmer, GMB Organiser, said

“Union members and staff are worried about the Trusts on-going program to remove beds from the EDGH. There is concern that if the Trust removes a further 20 or more beds the numbers will fall to below 400. That is the point that the Trust could be allowed to look to downgrade A&E from the current 24/7 provision, to minor injury or cottage hospital status.Downgrading this hospital’s A&E services would be an absolute disaster for the people of Eastbourne and East Sussex. It could possibly be the real beginning of the end for EDGH."

"Only the Trust and it’s Chief Executive know for sure if the concerns of staff are founded in truth and whether any further cuts in beds could potentially lead to the trust being able to change the hospital’s status in Eastbourne"

Read the GMB Press Release here: 

Next Trades Council Meeting: November 2014

The next meeting of Eastbourne Trades Council will be on Tuesday 18th November, 7.30pm at the View Hotel (formerly known as the Unite/T&G Eastbourne Centre, Grand Parade, Eastbourne. 

All local trade union members, including retired trade unionists, are welcome to attend the meeting.

THE AGENDA WILL BE:

1. Introductions and apologies for absence

2. Approval of new affiliations.

3. Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

4. Treasurer's Report- Gordon Dyer

5. CAMPAIGNS FOR 2015- what issues should the Trades Council be pushing locally during the General and Local elections ?  (to include introductory comments from Jake Lambert, NUT delegate and Eastbourne's Labour Parliamentary candidate)

6. GMB Hospital march, 29th November- arrangements and publicity

7. Any other Campaigns: Colleagues invited to provide information on their Unions’ local and national campaigns, and any support that the Trades Council could give.

9. Any other business.

The bar will be open afterwards !