CAMDEN KEEP OUR NHS PUBLIC

Will the government's present plans destroy the NHS?

Should GPs be put in charge of 80% of the NHS budget?

Should private companies run any part of the NHS?

If you live in or near the borough of Camden and your answer is NO to any or all of these questions you might like to join the campaign group Camden Keep Our NHS Public (Camden KONP)

Camden KONP's main aim is

      to work to keep the original principles of the National Health Service,
      with free treatment for all provided by the state

We do not believe that these original principles can be upheld if GPs are given 80% of the NHS budget to commission services for their patients, which is likely to result in GP consortia having  to hire profit-making  companies to deal with commissioning the necessary services. Nor do we believe that general practices should be run by private companies. 

NOW IS THE TIME TO PREPARE FOR ACTION

The NHS Health and Social Care Bill has now become law but action is still needed to ensure that private companies do not take over many aspects of health care and that free treatment for all really will be provided by the state.

Camden KONP activities

Camden KONP was founded to oppose the take-over of the Camden Road surgery by UnitedHealth UK in 2008. Three years later UnitedHealth passed the surgery on to The Practice plc. A year further on and the Primary Care Trust/NHS North Central London announced that the lease of the premises could not be renewed and the surgery would close on 13 April 2012. Camden KONP's work will continue, though, with its aim locally to get satisfactory medical care provided as close as possible to where patients live.

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Meetings of the Camden group and of the wider London group, London KONP, are held every few weeks, usually at 6.30 or 7.0 p.m. on Tuesday evenings and whenever possible at Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, WC1. See Events for details of these and other relevant meetings. 

When appropriate, Camden KONP has sent deputations to meetings of the Health Scrutiny Committee of Camden Borough Council. Webcasts of HSC meetings can be found on Camden Council's web site (http://www.camden.ukcouncil.net/site/)

Camden KONP, as a member of the national body, Keep Our NHS Public, works to spread information and raise awareness of what is happening to our medical practices. We gather signatures for petitions to the health authorities, send letters and articles to the media whenever appropriate, and work to make our presence known at community fairs and other events. You might like to see the slideshows and photos taken at a demonstration and march in 2009, the year after we started campaigning (http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-slideshow/G0000_jcWTUWYOQQ/). Another march was held on 17 May 2011, in collaboration with unions and other organisations. 

Distributing information at South End Green, NW3, 24 January 2009, with help from Katharine Whitehorn and other local residents.

Protest at Whittington Hospital, 8 July 2008, before lecture by Dr Richard Smith, UnitedHealth Primary Care -- the company that ran three general practices in Camden (which were then taken over in spring 2011 by another company).

Camden KONP is affiliated to the national campaign Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) (www.keepournhspublic.com). KONP has a Facebook site that you can join: 
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40921988278&ref=ts

For forthcoming and past activities and achievements see list of events (Events)

See also a brief history of Camden KONP (Background story)

To become a member or supporter of the campaign group, see How to support Camden KONP 

For useful links to other organisations and to publications, see Links