Campaign Launched Against Arriva Take Over Of Manchester’s Ambulances

The local community backed by UNISON have launched a campaign to stop the privatisation of the patient transport service (PTS) within Greater Manchester.

Campaigners believe this is the first step towards the wholesale privatisation of our NHS and that we must campaign to stop it.

The contract is up for tender, and the preferred bidder is currently ARRIVA Bus Company, based purely on cost as the in-house service performed better on quality.

Campaigners are also concerned that this move is going to affect the service as the private company starts to try and make profit by cutting corners.

The service is provided currently by 375 staff directly employed by the NHS. The service provides non-urgent transport to and from hospital appointments for those with real medical needs.

North West Ambulance Service undertakes over 2.3 million journeys every year. The service is also part of the resilience plan for emergency situations within the Greater Manchester area which is defined as a high risk area by Central Government.

The campaign launch is on Monday 15th October at 7pm at Manchester Town Hall.

All members of the public are invited to attend.

Speakers include:

*Patients

*Andrew Gwynne MP for Denton & Reddish and member of the Shadow Health team

*Lucy Powell Parliamentary Candidate for Manchester Central,

*Angela Rayner UNISON Northwest Region.

Visit the facebook page, join the campaign & sign the online petition here

Source: Save Our NHS campaign

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