Save Our Surgeries

Today patients and doctors from three East London boroughs picketed outside a meeting of NHS England and took a petition to the Department of Health in an effort to save their GP surgeries from cuts and reorganisation of GP surgeries in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney.

They are campaigning against the removal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) which the Department of Health has decided will be phased out over the next 7 years. The Jubilee Street Practice in Tower Hamlets estimates that this will be a loss of income in the region of £1 million over the next 7 years. A devastating blow for any practice.

The campaigners started outside a meeting of NHS England. The body responsible for cutting the MPIG money. NHS England estimates that 98 GP Practices across the country will face a significant shortfall over the coming years through loss of this income. After a lively picket they moved on to the Department of Health building at Whitehall, where they planned to hand in their petition of over 15 000 signatures collected from residents of the three boroughs over the past 4 weeks.

A delegation entered the Department of Health while the rest set up outside.

Nobody from the Department of Health was willing to accept the patients petition. Instead insisting it must be handed the private security manager of the building. A pretty poor response considering the effort put in by the patients in the East End. They promised to raise the matter with their MPs to try and get answers not just to the issues about their GP surgeries but also why Health Ministers feel it is acceptable to cut money from local practices and then hide from patients who are trying to get involved in protecting GP services vital to the area.

The Save Our Surgeries groups from the three boroughs have called a march and rally in East London tomorrow.

 More details can be found here facebook.com/events/1430313250565943 and here newhamsaveournhs.weebly.com/