Learn Lesson of Ega Set Back

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SUBSCRIBE to Socialist Press me trial sub/six months/one year Send to Socialist Press, 31, Dartmouth Park This is a serious blow to the longest running hospital occupation, and also to the national fight against cuts in the health service, to which the EGA has been a focus and a leading example for over two years.

But despite this major setback, the occupation is by no means finally defeated.

The out-patients department is still treating patients, the remaining wards are still fully equipped and the staff and local community are determined to carry on fighting.

Campaign

An immediate campaign must be launched for the readmission of patients and for the reopening of all the wards in the hospital.

There are several reasons for the removal of the patients.

The occupation itself has been divided and confused for several months due to the skillful and devious tactics of the health authorities.

After many attempts to close the hospital over the past two years, the AHA's final ploy was to withdraw funding for the payment of junior doctors, and to refuse to renew or replace individual doctors' contracts when they expired.

This finally resulted in patients being left on wards with no medical cover, and the staff could not reach agreement on how to oppose this completely callous tactic.

Ambulance drivers

drives from the local Caradee orivers prominenocarudmactl NUPE branch who carried the patients, despite their close involvement with the occupation in the past, and their longstanding agreement not to remove patients from any hospital that is under threat of closure.

Although the ambulance branch leadership were put in a very difficult position-where not to remove the patients would have left them without medical treatment-they, and every driver at that station must be criticised for not keeping close contact with the occupation committees when the instruction for the removals came through.

Also, it was staff at the nearby St. Pancras Hospital who accepted some of the patients, despite the fact that their COHSE branch has given strong support to the occupation in the past years—at one stage pledging indefinite strike action if any attempt was made to close the EGA!

Mistakes

EGA staff, ambulance drivers and St. Pancras workers must recognise that they have made mistakes in the events surrounding last week's removals.

But if the EGA wards are to be reopened and if a repetition of the removals is to be avoided at other occupied and threatened hospitals, then one very important lesson must be learnt.

• It was the policies of the AHA and the Tory government which removed the patientsnot the lack of commitment or solidarity by health workers in It is only a campaign to change these policies that will save the EGA, a campaign that will directly confront the programme of cuts planned by the Thatcher government.

The leadership of the London public sector trade unions are in the best position to spearhead this campaign.

But the record of the London leadership on fighting the cuts since the Tories have come to office has been atrocious.

Despite resolutions from at least three large NUPE branches demanding that NUPE call an all-London. conference to discuss action against the cuts, they have not taken a single step towards mobilising the membership against hospital closures.

The EGA is still in a strong position to resist closure, with a well-organised occupation, active support from local hospitals, ambulance drivers and the community.

But last Monday and Tuesday's events show that occupation and support from local trade unionists-no matter how well organised-is not sufficient to fight the Tory cuts.

The Tory government and health authorities will continue to try to pick off isolated hospital and ward occupations with ease, using every devious tactic at their disposal.

The only way to fight the cuts is to link local organisation to building for a massive campaign of all out strike action amongst health and public sector workers in defence of threatened and occupied hospitals.