Save Our NHS rally hears of health system in crisis and vows to fight ‘destruction of service’

Trade unionists in Guildhall Square on Saturday vowed to resist the ‘destruction of our NHS’.

Unison President Andrea Egan travelled from Bolton to address the Derry Trades Union Council rally.

"It's currently difficult to recruit in so many areas of the NHS. This is due to low pay. There are alarmingly high sickness rates among our nursing and support staff largely attributable to health and mental stress,” she said.

This is having a detrimental impact on waiting lists, said the Unison President, who also referred to the closure of GP practices.

"We see how serious a problem we face. Health care workers are absolutely shattered,” she said.

Susan Fitzgerald, of Unite, spoke of trade union unity, stating: “While it is great to see your own trade union flag flying nothing beats seeing all our union colours together on a rally coming together at the same time. All the battles we are fighting are important and are winning support from society as a whole but none are more important than health.”

Beverly Simpson of Unison remarked: “The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world yet its citizens cannot access efficient health care with long waiting lists, exhausted GPs, closing GP surgeries and low morale among staff.”

Gareth Moore, of Aegis, vowed: “We will not allow people to be priced out of existence so that a billionaire can make another billion. We will not allow people to be frozen and starved in their homes and we will never allow for the destruction of our NHS.”

Rachel Carlin, from Creggan’s Focus Project, said NHS cuts disproportionately affect women.

“Across the health and social care sectors women make up 79 per cent of all staff. The lack of funding and resources at this rate is going to permanently change and threaten lives in NI,” she said.

Deborah Yapicioz, addressing the rally on behalf of Anne Speed, of Unison and the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s Health Committee, said: “Our health service belongs to the people. It has the support of the entire trade union movement. It is socialism in action. It is not a play thing for hedge fund investors or corporate greed.”

Tanya Killen, from NIPSA, observed: “The current strike wave across this country has been driven by the ineptitude of the capitalist politicians and their anti-worker policies to deliver for the people of NI.”

Felicity McCall, from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), stated: “This region has for far too long been neglected. The neglect of the north west means that our communities urban and rural are disproportionately affected by the woeful overall neglect of housing, education, health and welfare services in the north. No more.”

39 photographs of striking education and health workers staging rally for pay in Derry