The NHS as we know it is under threat from drastic changes contained in Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Bill. The bill has now cleared the committee stage, and will soon be going on to its third reading in the Commons.

It’s vitally important that we engage with MPs now, to make them aware their constituents are worried about the bill.

We oppose these changes for five main reasons:

Opening up the NHS to private profit. Taxpayers’ money destined for NHS patients will be diverted into shareholder profits.

Broken promises: Before the election David Cameron said: “I will cut the deficit, not the NHS” yet this reorganisation could cost up to £3 billion. No one voted for this.

Longer waiting times: With no cap on the amount hospitals can earn from private patients, NHS patients risk being pushed to the back of the queue.

Postcode lottery: Under the proposals, the care patients can expect will vary from place to place, increasing costs and health inequalities and hurting vulnerable people.

The NHS is working: Public satisfaction with the NHS is currently at an all-time high.

You can help now.

Please get involved and help unions and campaigners to make All Together for the NHS Day a success.

Check out False Economy’s listings of events near you, and other actions you can take online.

And please take a moment to take our online action to email your MP, asking them to vote against the bill at the third reading.

Students handed out placards with historical protest imagery at the start of the march, took some great timelapse video of the day, and organised collections of placards and props at the rally, hoping to gather a record of creativity in popular protest, to use at the Museum.

Guy Atkins, one of the organisers of the project, said:

“Saturday was fantastic. We were completely blown away by the response to the project. Handing out our placards on Embankment, we met so many great people wanting to chat about the protests they’d been on. And then for people to give us their creations at Hyde Park was really special.”

The team had loads of placards donated on the day, but are still after more of people’s creative protest art. If you’ve got a placard you’d like to donate, they’ll be holding another collection at the Museum of London on Saturday 2^nd April. Drop them a line on saveourplacards@gmail.com or contact them on Facebook to arrange it, or to send in any photos you have of yourself with your placard on the day.

Benefits cuts

Public services in Birmingham

EMA cuts

Public services in Birmingham

Here’s a video on the case for an alternative to cuts that we’ve made specially to show at the rally in Hyde Park.