Film director Ken Loach has called on Londoners to save the NHS from its “sick bed” by joining a march to defend Whittington Hospital.
Thousands are expected to join the march, tomorrow [Sat], from Highbury and Islington station to the hospital in Archway, in a bid to stop them selling off part of its land.
NHS bosses want to halve the number of beds and cut around 350 jobs in a bid to save money.
He said: “I have been a patient at the Whittington, including using the A&E, as well as my family. I have very good memories of the service there. It provides a fundamental service for people in our area.”
“We need to save the Whittington facilities and the NHS at the same time. The NHS is on its sick bed and unless we fight for it very hard it will no longer be there when we need it. I support the campaign to preserve the values of the NHS,” he told the Camden New Journal.
Other celebrities to have joined the campaign include actor Dominic West, film director Stephen Frears and X Factor star Alexandra Burke.
The sell-off has sparked anger and controversy in the community with around 600 people attending a public meeting on the issue last month.
Campaigners are meeting at 11.30am at Highbury and Islington for the march ending with a rally outside the hospital entrance and will be joined by GMB, Unite and Unison unions and protesters from hospital campaigns across London, including Lewisham, Hammersmith and Charing Cross.
The Whittington is trying to save £70 million in five years in an attempt to become an independently-run foundation trust hospital.
