[The first conference organised by the Medical Committee…]

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The first conference organised by the Medical Committee Against Private Practice (MCAPP), held in London on 11th October, under the title •Fight Against the Cuts in the NHS, showed the real determination of the working class to defend the health service as a basic right.

Some 300 delegates and visitors from over a hundred trade union branches, trades councils, shop stewards' committees and constituency Labour Parties voted unanimously to campaign for a socialist programme against private practice and to defend the NHS.

The conference was introduced who said correctly that the Labour Party should not just manage capitalism, and that to fail to put forward socialist answers would only cause defeat for Labour at the polls, but omitted to say whether the lefts would fight to remove Wilson and his cabinet who are Anino inct that Many speakers in the discussion on the main MCAPP resolution gave telling , examples of the worsening crisis in: the NHS. Dr. Dominic Costa, proposing, the MCAPP resolution, said that almost 600,000 (one in a hundred of the population) were now on hospital waiting lists.

Barbara Castle said last week at Folkestone that the shortage of money meant hospitals would have to be closed. Obviously this cynical starving of the NHS would lead to the mushrooming of private practice.

There were two main amendments to the main resolution -one was proposed by the International Socialists, who wanted, incredibly, to delete the demands for automatic increases in the NHS budget to compensate for inflation, for a sliding scale of wages in the NHS, for a workers' inquiry into the NHS and for the opening of the books to the workers' movement, and insert demands for shop stewards' committees and rank and file papers.

The second amendment, from Oxford Health Service -ASTMS branch was supported by the WSL and sought to place the emphasis on the opening of the books of the health service to prepare for workers' control and management of the NHS. It began: «The defence of the NHS must centre around the formation of independent workers' organisations fight for the following 1) For a health service under the control of the working class. The setting-up of elected committees of Trade Unionists, representative of health service workers and NHS consumers, to examine the day to day running of Health Service Authorities and to supervise control and deploy resources to satisfy the health requirements of all workers. This must involve these committees in forcing the Health Authorities to give full information on their budget allocations and a complețe breakdown ot expenditure,. manning levels and on private practice.

It also called for the distribution of additional funds to be under control of these workers' committees and for a black on all private practice.

Sue Lister (ASTMS), in moving the amendment, said the main motion was only a "shopping list of vague demands" which the amendment would make more concrete and clear as a fighting programme. She said that NALGO Executive had supported the conference as a form of left' solidarity, but that to carry out such a programme as was proposed, trade unionists would have to fight the union bureaucracy, including the National Executive, which in ASTMS had simply forgotten about similar motions passed at conference.

R.Robson (NUPE) said in support that opening of the books was essential to prepare for workers' control. He called for NHS union leaders to call official strike action for a cash injection into the NHS. The amendment won much support, and was accepted into the motion, which carried.

Dr.Berry Beaumont said th Royal Free Hospital, recently con pleted, had a whole private floo but they would not build accom dation for its nurses for 4-5 year. She called for the working class t take over the monopoly of poweri the NHS at present held by doctor She demanded the opening of th books in the NHS, and called on th lefts like Benn in Wilson's cabin to dissociate from the govarnmen and 'stand on the side of thos who are fighting against it and it attacks'.

STRIKE

If the conference programn is to be fought for in all, especial Health Service, unions, all tha who support such a programa must fight for • national offici strike action around such demanı if the NHS is to survive. N enthusiastic approval of the MCAI conference shows that the forc are there in the workers' mor ment for that to be done.

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RESS, Wednesday Octob