27,000 on the streets in Cornwall over NHS cuts

Marching through Hayle (Pic: Hayle Eye)

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An estimated 27,000 people marched through the Cornish town of Hayle (population 8,317) last Sunday, to protest against hospital closures.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust has accumulated a financial deficit set to reach £31 million by April next year - a victim of Labour’s pro-market policies which mean money leaks out of the NHS into the hands of private companies.

Possible cuts in the area include the closure of Hayle’s St Michael’s hospital, the loss of the emergency department at West Cornwall hospital, Penzance, and ward cuts at Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro.

Meanwhile, the clerical staff in the Unison union at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust are balloting for a programme of industrial action following news that clerical work may be sent overseas.