200,000 people in the North West have signed a petition, and October 28 saw a demonstration in Liverpool opposing the closure of the city's Blood Transfusion Centre, which serves Merseyside and North Wales.
The Centre, whose work would be moved to Manchester, is one of five to be axed out of a total of 15, under new plans published in September by the National Blood Authority.
Other centres facing the chop are Lancaster, Oxford, Brentwood and Plymouth, as the NBA seeks to cut £10-£12m from a Blood Service budget of £135m, slashing at least ten percent of the 4000 workforce.
Slower deliveries Though the NBA boasts that its new network would deliver blood supplies to any hospital within 2 hours, this would be a worsening of performance: most centres already do better.
The plans arise from a £600,000 review of the blood service by management consultants brought in by the NBA's controversial chief executive John Adey.
Adey, until he took the reins at the NBA, was Chairman of Baxter's Healthcare, the monopoly supplier of blood bags to the NHS!
Health unions warn that the closure, linked with plans to run the entire network of blood donors from just three Zonal headquarters in Leeds, Bristol and North London, will break up skilled and dedicated teams, leave panels of donors unable to give blood, jeopardise the treatment of patients with blood disorders, and risk a total dislocation of blood supplies.
Though blood is given free by donors, under the new NHS git market system hospitals are charged for each unit of blood they consume.
European market NBA chiefs have been sounding out internal management views on possibly extending this to selling British blood products on the European market.
The NBA closure package is theoretically open for consultation until November 11: but Adey has declared that it would "take an earthquake' to change his mind.
Healthworkers and campaigners in all the threatened localities are doing their best to create one.
• 85,000 people have so far signed the petition opposing plans to close one of SHEFFIELD's two busy Accident & Emergency units, as the Tories' hospital closure programme grinds on across the country.
• In north London, 50,000 copies of a 12-page Hands Off Our Hospitals tabloid newspaper have been distributed by campaigners fighting the closure of EDGWARE Hospital by Barnet Health Authority. The paper has been funded through advertisements from local unions, community groups, political parties and small businesses.
Hundreds joined a lively demonstration on October 29 demanding the health authority drop the closure plan, which has been opposed by MPs and councillors from all three main parties in all three boroughs affected.
• Over 80 people turned out to a public meeting on October 25 to boost the campaign in defence of Central Middlesex Hospital.
The hospital is threatened under plans drawn up by the • Brent & Harrow health authority, which would oblige patients from the deprived Harlesden Willesden and Wembley areas to choose between long and awkward journeys to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, or Northwick Park in Harrow.
• Cash has already run out for non-emergency treatment at London's Whittington Hospital. The Trust has closed the doors on local waiting list patients five months before the end of the financial year as a result of spending cuts imposed by the Camden & Islington health authority.
All parties closure'
Central Mid hits back
queues lengthened