Protest against further health service cuts being held before Western Trust public meeting in Derry - 'It will break our health service'

People Before Profit representative Shaun Harkin has called for members of the public to attending a protest before a Western Trust public meeting on further cuts to the health service. The protest will take place at the Verbals Arts Centre before the 6pm meeting on Tuesday September 26th. Mr Harkin said: "We encourage everyone opposed to the cuts to organise for a large protest before the Western Trust meeting on Tuesday 26 September at 6pm outside the Verbal Arts Centre. "The Western Trust is tasked with making a so-called 'savings' of £12.5 million. These cuts if implemented will mean the loss of beds, fewer surgeries, longer waiting lists, a reduction in domicillary care, the suspension of fertility treatment and the possible closure of residential homes. Workers will lose their jobs and those remaining will be asked to take on more responsibilities. This is an unsustainable situation for patients and workers. It will break our health service. "Trust board members, unaccountable Stormont civil servants, James Brokenshire and the entire political establishment need to hear loud and clear these cuts will not be accepted. They need to hear loud and clear there is no mandate for anymore cuts. They need to hear loud and clear these cuts will be devastating and must be reversed. They need to know they cannot use our health service as a political football. "Theresa May's £1 billion pay-off to the DUP to prop-up her toxic austerity government is clear proof that funding is available. Cuts have always been a cynical political choice. The hidden agenda of those who have driven forward austerity is to destroy the public sector in order to faciliate privatisation so a tiny few can profit. The destruction of public services like the NHS will have disastrous consequences for working class people from all backgrounds across the North. "The bottom line is that funding exists but the only way it will be spent on the priorities of working class communities is if we unite to mobilise in large numbers. "We need all political parties, trade unions, community organisations and everyone who opposes these cuts to stand in solidarity against the destruction of our health service. Resistance - protests, industrial action, civil disobedience - can stop these attacks. We need to speak with a united voice against cuts and demand serious investment in all of our public services."