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Marching with Pride in Support of the National Health Service
Marching with Pride in Support of the National Health Service MADAM - We were dismayed at the views expressed in S Wynn-Williams' letter 'Why did physiotherapists march?' (April 1988). We would have hoped that members of our profession would be more enlightened and consider the activities of the Industrial Relations Department of the CSP an asset in promoting and improving our professional image in the 1980s. Physiotherapists who participate in industrial relations activities (usually in their own time) do not do so to the detriment of their own professional educational development. In fact, we suspect many are at the forefront of such educational developments. The decision to participate in activities such as the demonstration on March 5 remains a personal choice for each member of our Society. If we do as Mrs WynnWilliam; suggests and leave 'the NHS for the politicians to organise' we are ignoring our responsibilities to our profession and more importantly to our patients. VALERIE GRAVES MCSP VlVlEN PERT MCSP PAM PATON MCSP London N12
MADAM - I was shocked to read of Susan Wynn-Williams' disgust at over 500 CSP members joining the march and rally in support of the NHS held on March 5 (Physiotherapy, April). I attended the march and am proud to say so. I marched with the chairman of Council, other Council members and a wealth of Chartered physiotherapists who were there t o express support for the NHS - surely an admirable reason for attending1 Mrs WynnWilliams complains of 'this union-style' action, but has she not realised that the CSP ' is our union? As for complaints about membership subscriptions being wasted and lack of consultation of the membership first, any cost was on the part of the individual who marched (travel expenses, etc) and second, why is there a need for consultation when the march was entirely voluntary? Members attended during their own free time causing no harm t o patient care. Mrs Wynn-Williams is welcome t o leave the organisation of the NHS t o the politicians, but in this free country we are all entitled to express our views and this is 'what we did on March 5. We did not strike and we did not picket. Our Industrial Relations Department is working hard and under great pressure in order to look after the best interests of Chartered physiotherapists, including Mrs Wynn-Williams. She complains of 'vast sums' being spent in this department, but who ensures we get paid for the job we actually do? Who supplies the evidence to the Pay Review Body? Who fights closures of hospitals and cuts in physiotherapy posts? Who fights against closures of schools of physiotherapy (education is, after all, 'the cornerstone for the future')? These and more are dealt w i t h by the IR Department. In answer t o Mrs WynnWilliams' question: the IR Department did consult the PR Department in order to publicise the fact that we were marching. I, as a 'highly respected professional' am proud to be a member of a profession who
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is'seen t o be supporting the NHS and I suggest Mrs Wynn-Williams should get her facts straight before 'getting t o her feet' again! KAREN DINSDALE MCSP Romford, Essex MADAM - I was surprised by the comments made about physiotherapists supporting the NHS rally on March 5 in the letters column of Physiotherapy (April 1988). I, like many of my colleagues throughout the country - all of whom had been informed about the march gave up our free time on a Saturday t o join about 100,000 other health workers and individuals in demonstrating about the underfunding and recent cutbacks enforced on the National Health Service by the Government. Cutbacks have been witnessed all over the country in the form.of ward closures, bed closures, frozen posts, reduced equipment and training budgets - to mention but a few. All this leads to longer waiting lists, understaffing, increased workloads and poor working conditions which inevitably cause low morale within our hospitals and departments. It would be irresponsible for us to sit back and allow the Government to reduce the quality of patient care and to stunt the growth of our professions by enhancing the current financial problems and making the health care system a less desirable environment in which to work. Without exception, everyone is agreed that education is the cornerstone for the future, but how can we possibly achieve this without sufficient training budgets, and, more important, without the staff or students to educate? We already suffer a national 8 % shortfall of physiotherapists, and with the present trend in closures of training schools and the ever growing problems of staff recruitment and retention, the crisis is becoming worse. I do not consider myself to be a militant unionist but feel that by a demonstration
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such as the rally on March 5, we can hope to impress upon the Government and the electorate the full extent of the dilemma within the National Health Service. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is our professional body and our union, which serves to protect and fight for the best interests of us, its membership. The only way the profession will ever survive and prosper is if the membership of the CSP are united in voice and action. MAGGIE COONEY BSc MCSP London E l 4 M A D A M - I was present at last September's Discussion Meeting and well remember Mrs Wynn-Williams's comments on militancy, the miners and the CSP. There was as Mrs Wynn-Williams stated, a degree of outrage and disgust, along with a large feeling of frustration that once again serious minded discussion of a pertinent, pressing issue was completely disrupted by an illconsidered interjection. I am only sorry that she has not learned from that experience to stand back and examine an issue in a reasonable and educated manner. I walked alongside other physiotherapists on March 5 to express my grave concern for the future health of this country. I was there on behalf of my patients who could not walk and those who cannot express their concern vocally or in writing. I do not think my reasons differ greatly fro-m the tens of thousands of other health care professionals who walked together that day, or indeed the many church and community groups present. Physiotherapists chose, as individuals, to attend the rally; and did so at their own personal expense. Mrs Wynn-Williams may choose t o disagree with their decision but she should respect their right to do so. I agree that education is the cornerstone for the future of the CSP. I hope that Mrs Wynn-Williams will learn to ensure that she is conversant with the facts before issuing emotive statements in future. MAGGIE CAMPBELL MCSP Sheffield
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MADAM The participation of Chartered physiotherapists in the London NHS demonstration in March has drawn a strong response from Susan Wynn-Williams. However, it is difficult to know exactly what her objections are. If, as it would seem, she feels that professional status precludes participation in any form of political activity, it must be realised that her own endorsement of current and proposed changes in the NHS, and her advocacy of the market ethic in health care, contravene this very principle. Actions and statements, in whatever medium, which support the status quo, are no less 'political' than those which oppose it. Moreover, as Ruth Purtilo has cogently pointed out in her Congress lecture to the Society, there are strong arguments that working for the patient's best interests may necessitate involvement in the political arena (Purtilo, 1986). Nancy Watts voices much the same view when she advocates that 'we should expand our thinking to recognise
physiotherapy, May 1988, vol74, no 5
MADAM - I was shocked to read of Susan Wynn-Williams' disgust at over 500 CSP members joining the march and rally in support of the NHS held on March 5 (Physiotherapy, April). I attended the march and am proud to say so. I marched with the chairman of Council, other Council members and a wealth of Chartered physiotherapists who were there t o express support for the NHS - surely an admirable reason for attending1 Mrs WynnWilliams complains of 'this union-style' action, but has she not realised that the CSP ' is our union? As for complaints about membership subscriptions being wasted and lack of consultation of the membership first, any cost was on the part of the individual who marched (travel expenses, etc) and second, why is there a need for consultation when the march was entirely voluntary? Members attended during their own free time causing no harm t o patient care. Mrs Wynn-Williams is welcome t o leave the organisation of the NHS t o the politicians, but in this free country we are all entitled to express our views and this is 'what we did on March 5. We did not strike and we did not picket. Our Industrial Relations Department is working hard and under great pressure in order to look after the best interests of Chartered physiotherapists, including Mrs Wynn-Williams. She complains of 'vast sums' being spent in this department, but who ensures we get paid for the job we actually do? Who supplies the evidence to the Pay Review Body? Who fights closures of hospitals and cuts in physiotherapy posts? Who fights against closures of schools of physiotherapy (education is, after all, 'the cornerstone for the future')? These and more are dealt w i t h by the IR Department. In answer t o Mrs WynnWilliams' question: the IR Department did consult the PR Department in order to publicise the fact that we were marching. I, as a 'highly respected professional' am proud to be a member of a profession who
238
is'seen t o be supporting the NHS and I suggest Mrs Wynn-Williams should get her facts straight before 'getting t o her feet' again! KAREN DINSDALE MCSP Romford, Essex MADAM - I was surprised by the comments made about physiotherapists supporting the NHS rally on March 5 in the letters column of Physiotherapy (April 1988). I, like many of my colleagues throughout the country - all of whom had been informed about the march gave up our free time on a Saturday t o join about 100,000 other health workers and individuals in demonstrating about the underfunding and recent cutbacks enforced on the National Health Service by the Government. Cutbacks have been witnessed all over the country in the form.of ward closures, bed closures, frozen posts, reduced equipment and training budgets - to mention but a few. All this leads to longer waiting lists, understaffing, increased workloads and poor working conditions which inevitably cause low morale within our hospitals and departments. It would be irresponsible for us to sit back and allow the Government to reduce the quality of patient care and to stunt the growth of our professions by enhancing the current financial problems and making the health care system a less desirable environment in which to work. Without exception, everyone is agreed that education is the cornerstone for the future, but how can we possibly achieve this without sufficient training budgets, and, more important, without the staff or students to educate? We already suffer a national 8 % shortfall of physiotherapists, and with the present trend in closures of training schools and the ever growing problems of staff recruitment and retention, the crisis is becoming worse. I do not consider myself to be a militant unionist but feel that by a demonstration
-
such as the rally on March 5, we can hope to impress upon the Government and the electorate the full extent of the dilemma within the National Health Service. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is our professional body and our union, which serves to protect and fight for the best interests of us, its membership. The only way the profession will ever survive and prosper is if the membership of the CSP are united in voice and action. MAGGIE COONEY BSc MCSP London E l 4 M A D A M - I was present at last September's Discussion Meeting and well remember Mrs Wynn-Williams's comments on militancy, the miners and the CSP. There was as Mrs Wynn-Williams stated, a degree of outrage and disgust, along with a large feeling of frustration that once again serious minded discussion of a pertinent, pressing issue was completely disrupted by an illconsidered interjection. I am only sorry that she has not learned from that experience to stand back and examine an issue in a reasonable and educated manner. I walked alongside other physiotherapists on March 5 to express my grave concern for the future health of this country. I was there on behalf of my patients who could not walk and those who cannot express their concern vocally or in writing. I do not think my reasons differ greatly fro-m the tens of thousands of other health care professionals who walked together that day, or indeed the many church and community groups present. Physiotherapists chose, as individuals, to attend the rally; and did so at their own personal expense. Mrs Wynn-Williams may choose t o disagree with their decision but she should respect their right to do so. I agree that education is the cornerstone for the future of the CSP. I hope that Mrs Wynn-Williams will learn to ensure that she is conversant with the facts before issuing emotive statements in future. MAGGIE CAMPBELL MCSP Sheffield
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MADAM The participation of Chartered physiotherapists in the London NHS demonstration in March has drawn a strong response from Susan Wynn-Williams. However, it is difficult to know exactly what her objections are. If, as it would seem, she feels that professional status precludes participation in any form of political activity, it must be realised that her own endorsement of current and proposed changes in the NHS, and her advocacy of the market ethic in health care, contravene this very principle. Actions and statements, in whatever medium, which support the status quo, are no less 'political' than those which oppose it. Moreover, as Ruth Purtilo has cogently pointed out in her Congress lecture to the Society, there are strong arguments that working for the patient's best interests may necessitate involvement in the political arena (Purtilo, 1986). Nancy Watts voices much the same view when she advocates that 'we should expand our thinking to recognise
physiotherapy, May 1988, vol74, no 5