HUNDREDS of protesters gathered in Liverpool to rally against “creeping privatisation” within the NHS on the service’s 60th anniversary.

The march from The Royal Liverpool Hospital on Saturday was organised by several unions and the protest group Keep Our NHS Public (KONHSP).

Several people addressed the rally, including Jill George, of Unite, and Roger Bannister, of Unison.

Chair of the event, Alec McFadden, Presid- ent of Merseyside TUC, said: “This has been an excellent six months for the Keep our NHS Public campaign, the annual conference of NW TUC now supports it and Unison’s national confer- ence is also supporting the campaign.

“The march and quality of platform was excellent. It is all about unity in action of the NHS trade unions and the public, and the local committee is elated at the turn-out and broad support for this event.

“The committee will now go forward with even greater confidence.

“We were also pleased to see other public sector workers on the march.”

Among other local issues, KONHSP is unhappy with the decision to build a new Royal Liverpool Hospital, and the use of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to fund the project.

However, chair of Liverpool Primary Care Trust, Gideon Ben-Tovim said: “We are being given a fantastic opportunity to redesign how we deliver health care both in hospitals and in the community.”

NHS FESTIVAL: P14