Campaigning journalism in support of our NHS

The first challenge in defending the NHS is knowing what’s actually happening and then being able to prove it.

For the last decade, the NHS has been unable to escape crisis, struggling with too few resources and undermined by policy, but now it faces a wave of new patients as Covid in the UK recedes.

So far the government has failed to offer the NHS the support it needs.

We need urgently to raise awareness about the ways to secure the future of the NHS and create more pressure on our politicians.

However the issues are complex, misinformation is rife and the public needs regular information about the threats.

This is why we created a new, evidence-based, source of public information, to explain policy, investigate issues and keep the public right up to date.

The Lowdown – launched in 2019 produces campaigning journalism and research, is published bi-weekly, and is freely available.

How you can help

If you can please donate so that we can keep informing the public about the threats and policies that crucial can build and protect NHS.

You will be helping…

1. to provide a free public resource, with analysis about what’s happening in the NHS
2. to be an antidote to the frequent misinformation from ministers.
3. to report on the ideas to create change and the work of campaigners, trade unions, and NHS staff

The challenge is urgent
The mighty effort during Covid, comes after a decade of underinvestment in NHS staff and equipment, wasteful reorganizations, and growing privatisation of services, it is crucial to help the NHS to adapt to the rising demands of our population.

Recent history tells us we can’t leave it to our politicians to adequately support the NHS and therefore the public and NHS staff must be involved.

We know for example, that the NHS workforce plan is still not properly funded and, despite ministers’ claims of progress, that there are still 100,000 vacancies.

What we have achieved and want to do next
So far, with the help of our supporters, we have produced over 500 articles: broken new local and national stories, decoded minister’s misleading words on funding, demonstrated the growing role of the private sector, explained the solutions to the social care crisis. Exposed plans to cut services and talked about all new policy from the government and how our health system compares to others around the world.  (more)

To build on all this work we want to recruit and train new journalists to specialise in the reporting that is needed help to inform the public and activists.

If you can, please donate to help fund the work of our journalists and researchers – so that they can improve public awareness and challenge our policymakers to build a more sustainable NHS, that is comprehensive, publicly driven, and available to us all.

Four crucial issues

Here are four of the crucial issues around which you will be helping to develop the public debate.

1. Why is there still no funded plan to raise staffing across the NHS?
2. Why is the government investing in the private sector rather than NHS capacity?
3. What can we do to make NHS decisions more accountable to the people they affect?
4. The level of unmet need is rising and access to some care more inequitable, how can we change that?

Who are we?

Paul Evans (NHS Support Federation) and Dr John Lister (London Health Emergency, KONP and HCT), with over 50 years combined experience between them as researchers and campaigners are leading this project to build a news and investigation unit to inform NHS supporters and workers.

We have a small staff team and a growing community of freelance contributors. we are non-profit making, independent and our work is evidence-based and freely available.

We are committed to helping to train and support the next generation of health journalists, as they are essential to holding our politicians and health leaders to account and getting to the truth.

What do others say about our work?

‘Great journalism giving campaigners the evidence we rely on to defend the NHS – a really valuable asset.”
– Tony O’Sullivan, Co-chair Keep Our NHS Public

“It is a classy font of investigative journalism,”
– David Baines, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Newcastle University