Staff take NHS campaign to carnival
Updated on 26 August 2007
NHS workers are taking their campaign to keep the NHS public to the Notting Hill Carnival.
Unison, the UK's largest health union, has two floats filled with staff joining the London parade.
Health workers from across south London are dressing up in bright outfits to spread their "Keep The NHS Working" message, which aims to stamp out private sector involvement in the NHS. A Unison bus is also joining the route.
Karen Jennings, Unison head of health, said members of a local steel band, South Connections, are getting involved.
"South Connections are one of the biggest, brightest, boldest bands of masqueraders at the carnival," she said.
"They are cool, colourful and exhilarating and more than 100 of them are NHS workers who care passionately about their communities and their jobs.
"Unison wants to celebrate the NHS and it's workers and remind all those who use it what a wonderful service it provides.
"The NHS is still largely owned and run by the public sector and we want to keep it that way.
"The Government should rethink its policies of private sector involvement in our NHS. We need an NHS that listens to staff and values and acts on their knowledge and experience.
"The Notting Hill Carnival shows just how diverse our communities are across London and the UK, and we need an NHS that reflects and responds to that diversity and to the needs of patients from all backgrounds."
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