St. Mary's: Front Line in Fight for Nhs

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The long struggle against closure and cuts at St Mary's Hospital, London W9, has seen the emergence of a determined defence campaign — and a ruthless management. DETTIE CLINTON reviews

the line up after 3½ years.

ON THE management side at St. Mary's is a new breed of careerist administrators who have emerged since the 1974 reorganisation.

They have responded to growing trade union consciousness among health workers by methods identical to those of Michael Edwardes and other reactionary employers. A string of victimisations in the London area since 1979 has seen the ousting of militant branch officials and convenors including Geddes, Tissard, Hunt and Xavier.

Type In St. Mary's W9 a new type of administrator was brought in at the beginning of 1981 specifically to deal with the coming struggle.

The main proponents of the new hard line are administrators Julian Nettal [of St. Benedict's fame], and Mrs. Slaven, the Domestics Supervisor the domestics being the most militant section of the workforce. Day of action, December 4 Nettal has now built up whose convenor Terry expertise in closing hospit- Pettifor, called on ambuals and dealing with resist- lance crews to ignore the ance. instructions.

Wholesale stopped booked admissions, and embarked on a Following the go-ahead programme of transfers given in September by of patients: some were even Health Minister Vaughan 'kidnapped' from wards. to proposals for wholesale cutbacks at St Mary's, stepped up • against militNettal moved to prevent. ants in a bid to force in new patients being brought speed-up and job losses. to the hospital. But he was This came to a head with forestalled by the London the attempt to discipline Ambulance Service unions, Rita Maxim, a shop stewHard for the orderlies.

The feeling was so high against management on this that the workers conManagement then sidered that the administrator had forfeited his right to run the hospital. Nettal's office was occupied and used as an occupation office.

Disciplinary action was This was a high point of the struggle, and was popular among • most of the workers.

But a court order was quickly obtained and the occupiers evicted.

Then began the management raids on wards. The cynical disregard for the the management scabs. Their true faces were clear to all.

Weather

The later occupation of Ward 7 for a while slowed down further bed losses.

Even the weather has resisted the administrators' plans _ since more patients have been sent to hospital in the severe winter. conditions.

But they remain determined to close the Casualty, together with further acute beds and operating theatres. And only the labour movement can stop them.

Defence

On the other side of the fight is a defence committee that has also drawn lessons from the struggles and occupations at St. Benedict's and Longworth hospitals.

Like the management, the committee recognise the importance of St. Mary's. It is the first major general hospital to come under threat of closure inb London; on its fate hangs the fate of 130 other hospitals in the capital.

However far bigger practical problems have been posed in St. Mary's than in the occupations at other hospitals with mainly long-stay patients.

At St. Mary's it has been hard to unite a large and diverse workforce divided into five major unions. It has been difficult to ensure a constant influx of new patients and to gain support from doctors many of whom are more interested in their private practices.

The workers' decision in June 1981 to declare an occupation of St. Mary's if Vaughan gave the go-ahead, was a major step in beginning the counter-offensive. It was specially important as both the TGWU and the COHSE conferences were happening at the same time.

Both passed resolutions pledging full support to occupations and supporting strike action against the cuts. COHSE further committed full timers to go to St. Mary's and give all support necessary.

These resolutions gave added confidence to the workers — but were not enough in themselves.

It was many months before the COHSE branch received official backing. The TGWU leadership has not at any time campaigned in support of W9 — not even sending banners on the demonstrations on 3 October or 4 December or fighting for delegations to the picket line.

It has treated the workforce as lepers to be shunned. Official policy or not, the bureaucrats of Region 1 seemed only embarassed by the actions of their members.

Although NUPE nationally has shown little interest, at least the London Division has made efforts to publicise the fight at St Marysand to get some other hospital workers to take part in it.

But the fact is that none of the unions has mobilised its potential strength locally or nationally to defend St. Mary's.

When picketing began in the summer to monitor comings and goings at the hospital, it lacked the focus of a picketing hut and support was allowed to slip away.

But the firm response from ambulance crews to management's plans for the rundown gave an important lead. The Ambulance Service is still the key to preventing the closures, and its members are determined to avoid the horror of having to scour London with a sick patient in the back looking for an open Accident and Emergency Unit.

Now is the time for trade unionists to demand their leaders stop sniffling and start using their strength to win these struggles.

The whole London labour movement must take up the cuts fight and not leave it just to health workers.

A boost was given to the campaign with the attendance of Tony Benn and Ken Livingstone at a press conference at St. Mary's on 17, December. Hopefully this will convince more Labour Parties to join in the campaign.

A unified campaign against the cuts will have to be rebuilt nationally and in London to bring together the wide experiences gained in the past cuts fights.

If the Tories have their way, there will soon be only the shell of an NHS left. It is already in a dire state.

The fight to save St. Mary's is a crucial part of the fight to save the NHS. Join in that fight. Come to the support committee every Wednesday at 5.30 pm in the Woodfield wing.

Commit your organisation to send a delegation, money and messages of support through your union, Labour Party and Trades Council.

Certainly, there are psychiatrists who deny its usefulness. However, even if we accept that ECT is a useful therapy, the means by which the treatment is carried out is, or ought to be, a scandal in the National Health Service.

If psychiatrists practise such a controversial treatment in this fashion, what about their use of therapies less in the public eye?

Are the ECT revelations just the tip of an iceberg of indifference and hostility with which mental patients are treated?

And is this attitude towards mental patients merely the forerunner of the way in which all patients who do not pay cash will be treated in our rundown and fast-failing health service?

US news: Pres. Raygun has appointed Dr Armand Hammer to run the government's 'War on Cancer' campaign.

And who is this Hammer? He is none other than the boss of Hooker Chemicals, which gave Love Canal to America [and cancer to a lot of Americans]!

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