Is the NHS really in crisis? SSONHS Public Meeting 24th July

This meeting (details above) seems to be generating a lot of interest - we have even had people asking whether it is necessary to book - a welcome first for us.

We're experimenting with a format which opens up discussion - rather than suggesting there are easy answers. We start from the given that the government's failure to keep up with the 4% real term increase in the NHS budget, on top of the so-called efficiency cuts, has put the NHS in real trouble. Even senior Tories are saying that more money has to be put in. The question is, of course, how it should be raised. The Tories may well try some sort of patch up before the election and Labour are flirting with the idea of hypothecated National Insurance. But that's not what we want to talk about on Thursday.

The deeper debate is whether there are other changes needed in the NHS to meet changing social, demographic, economic and technical developments in order to maintain a universal health service true to its founding principles.

We've chosen to focus on certain aspects - first access to health services, a discussion led by two experienced GPs who are committed to the reduction of health inequalities. In the second half, two academics with considerable experience of the organisational side of the NHS will address issues such as competition vs collaboration, accountability, and whether preventative and community-based services will be both effective and save money. All the speakers will be in a personal capacity and will talk for about 10 minutes each.

It's a lot to pack in and there are bound to be a host of other issues coming up from the floor. We hope for a lively discussion.

At the end of the meeting we will have few minutes to discuss how to take things further, including whether we should organise more meetings of this sort and on what topics. We will also alert people to the developing arrangements for the Darlington marchers.