Momentum NHS

In March, following a comprehensive survey of Momentum supporters, “Defending the NHS” was chosen as the priority campaign for Momentum, achieving 56.3% of the vote. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions about the campaign. 

Act now to stop further NHS cuts and privatisation 

The Government is pushing forward further £22 billion in ideologically-driven funding cuts and privatisation across England through Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs), which have been largely kept secret and have not been approved by Parliament. The Tories know how much we love our NHS, so they’re trying to force these plans through the back door.

Help us fight the dismantling of our NHS by: 

• Joining the national demonstration on 4th March 2017
• Supporting the Naitonal Health Service Bill 
• Campaigning against the Sustainability and Transformation Plans

Join the national demonstration on 4th March

Health Campaigns Together and the People's Assembly Against Austerity have called a national demonstration for Our NHS on 4th March, which is being supported by trade unions, NHS campaigners and other grassroots campaigning organisations, including Momentum. Continued Government funding cuts, closures and selling off of services, is running our NHS into the ground, and is paving the way for full privatisation, which would replace our NHS with private insurance. 

The demonstration will assemble at 12pm in Tavistock Square, London WC1 and march to Parliament. Click here for more information. 

Help us make this the biggest ever demonstration in defense of our NHS, sending a clear message to the Government that we will not allow our NHS to be eroded and ultimately destroyed. 

• Join the demonstration 

Assemble at 12pm in Tavistock Square, London WC1. There will be a Momentum bloc at the demonstration, details of which will be confirmed soon. 

If you're coming from outside of London, click here for information about coaches travelling around the country.  If there's no coach already organised from your area, have a look at these tips on organising a coach. 

• Promote the demonstration

Hold a stall in your local area to inform people about the demonstration and encourage them to attend. 

Materials for your stall: you can download flyers and posters for the demonstration here or order printed resources by emailing [email protected]. You can also download and print Momentum NHS leaflets, or order them here and general Momentum flyers and badges here 

Here are 5 Talking Points on what the Tories are doing to our NHS, which you can use when talking to people. For more detailed information have a look at this 1 page Background Briefing. 

Promote the the Facebook event for the demonstration via your online networks and on social media. And, if you're part of a Momentum group, share the information with your local members and on your local group social media. 

• Organise events in the lead up to the demonstration 

You could organise a banner and placard making session or 'crafternoon' in the lead up to the 4th March, or a planning meeting with local activists about creative ways to contribute on the day, for example through actions and stunts, or organising a choir. 

You could also put on a public local event about the NHS to build for the demonstration. Email [email protected] if you would like to request a speaker.

Campaign to stop the STPs

Local councils have the power to object to the plans if they act now, as three councils have done already: Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing, and Liverpool City Council. 

Call on your Council to oppose the STP now: 

• Action you can take now to help stop the STP in your area: Ask your local Councillors to block the STP in your area - it takes 30 seconds!
• Action your local group can take to campaign against the STP in your area.

Here are 3 packs of campaign materials your group can use to campaign:

Campaign Pack 1: petitioning your local Council

This is something every group can do.

1. Circulate this Email your Councillors link to members of your group - an extremely quick and easy way for people to directly lobby their Councillors to block the local STP. 

2. Organise street stalls to collect signatures for a petition to your local Council, asking them to block the STP. 

Materials for your stall: 

• Print off this petition to your local council and and collect signatures of people who live in your council borough
• For something a bit more fun and personal, you can ask people to also fill in these 'I love the NHS because...' postcards addressing them. to your Councillors telling them why they should block the STP
• Momentum NHS leaflets - either download and print them or order some here
• STPs flyer - here is a simple flyer which you can download and print, with more detailed information about STPs for people who would like more information. 

Check the rules in your local area, sometimes you need permission from your local council to set up a stall. Create a buzzy atmosphere on your stall, at least three people makes a good team.

Here are 5 Talking Points about what the Tories are doing to our NHS and Labour's plans to re-nationalise and restore our health service. These can be useful for when you're talking to people and collecting petition signatures. For more detailed information check out this 1 page Background Briefing. Check out this STP Watch page for information about the specific cuts, closures or selling off of services contained in your local STP - if you need help decoding the STP, have a look at the information sheet in Campaign Pack 3 below. For more information see Stop the STPs or write to us at [email protected]   

3. Deliver the petition to your Council.

Once you've gathered a large number signatures, deliver your petition, and any I Love the NHS postcards that have been filled in, to your local Council. Find out about the next Council meeting by going to the council website and clicking on the 'democracy' or 'council meetings' tab. 

You must give the Council at least 24 hours notice that you want to deliver your petition to the meeting. We recommend delivering the petition to a full Council meeting, but you could also deliver it to a meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board or one of the scrutiny committees. 

Campaign Pack 2: building local pressure

If you have already collected signatures for the petition to deliver to your Council and encouraged your members to email their Councillors directly,  here are some further things you can do to build local pressure against the STP:

1. Bring a motion to your Constituency Labour Party calling on the local Council to block the STP. Here is a model motion you can use. Submit the motion to your Branch by sending it to your Branch Secretary in advance of your next meeting, where it will be discussed and voted on. If your Branch passes the motion, it will go to your next Constituency Labour Party meeting, where you will be able to introduce the motion before it is voted on. 

2. Distribute this letter to GPs within your Council borough. To locate GP surgeries, visit the the NHS Choices website and search for GPs in your area and deliver the letter to their surgeries. 

3. Work with local NHS campaigners to organise strong community campaigns opposing the implementation of the STP. Find out about NHS campaign groups in your area on the 999 Call for the NHS. This 1 page STP briefing and the Stop the STPs website have more detailed information about STPs. 

4. Lobby your Councillors directly. You can provide Councillors with this STPs briefing for Councillors. You can also lobby clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). These the bodies that purchase NHS services for an area, they are key players in the STP process. Find your CCG and provide Group members with the same briefing. 

Campaign Pack 3: decoding your local STP 

If you want to find out more about your STP and get more stuck into the issue, we recommend setting up an NHS working group within your local group to focus on this. If you have any questions or want to set up an NHS working group, please email [email protected] so we can put different working groups in touch with each other and provide advice and support. 

The STPs can be very confusing, including a lot of technical jargon and acronyms. This Decoding Your STP information sheet should make it a bit easier to understand.  For more information have a look at the Stop the STPs website.