Demands for proper consultation on the NHS and social care

• THANKS to the Tribune and NHS, we learned.

We learned from Ruth Cohen (It’s not too late to terminate this contract, February 26) and others the government plot to sell off two Islington GP practices; then 49 in London; then in towns all over England, (GP surgeries’ patients put in the hands of US big business, February 19).

Last week’s letters pages were “just what the doctor ordered”.

Ruth Cohen’s letter (from Islington Keep our NHS Public) explained the contracts from the subsidiary of the American giant corporation were not yet legal in the NHS.

I am glad to be in this campaign. But I am also proud, as a trade unionist, to be a delegate to Islington Trades Council which last week demanded an end to the roll-out of these dodgy contracts throughout London (contact secretary george.sharkey@gmbactivist.org.uk).

Our practical demands can be sent on to the London and South East England body of the TUC so the wider trade union movement can discover what’s happening to GPs in their area.

Our resolution also demands proper consultation on the NHS and social care, both of which need public funding and public accountability, as we have an increasingly older population and have suffered substantial marketisation ever since the Tony Blair government.

Islington Trades Council welcomes new delegates from local trade unions.

JAN POLLOCK, N5