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About John Lister

John Lister of London Health Emergency is a writer and academic who has campaigned against NHS cutbacks and privatisation for almost 30 years. He has taught journalism and health policy at Coventry University, is a founder member of Keep Our NHS Public, and a board member of the International Association of Health Policy.

Articles by John Lister

This week’s front page editor

Rosemary Bechler is a mainsite editor of openDemocracy

European integration

Six countries. Six different paths to EU integration.

No to TTIP

The secretive EU-US trade deal explained

If our government won’t act to save our NHS this winter, this is what we must do

John Lister 19 September 2017

NHS plans across England masquerade as ‘integration’ – but this autumn campaigners will meet to expose the reality now unfolding, of bed closures, private takeovers and a US-inspired system.

Councillors must look before they leap into secret NHS cuts plans

John Lister 25 October 2016

Jeremy Hunt can no longer pretend he's following 'the NHS's own plan'. Expect fierce local battles ahead.

Is the new 'collaboration' in the NHS merely a way to make cuts?

John Lister 25 July 2016

It's hard to see how the latest NHS reorganisation now secretively underway does anything other than put the accountants in charge, and balance sheets ahead of patient care.

NHS staff shortage “shock”…

John Lister 3 March 2016

The Beeb claimed a scoop in investigative journalism this week – but its findings were no shock to most people.

Maternity review 'nothing more than a pretext for privatisation'

John Lister 23 February 2016

The proposal to shift maternity funding into 'personal budgets' for pregnant women, is a formula for chaos and destablising core maternity services, warn campaigners.

Jeremy Hunt’s solution for cash-strapped NHS trusts - cut 375 nurses each?

John Lister 22 February 2016

Jeremy Hunt’s talks of patient safety - but his NHS cash 'solutions' risk repeating the mistakes of Mid-Staffordshire.

London NHS devolution - "It's obvious to all but gullible, power-grabbing councillors - this is about dumping blame for closures"

John Lister 18 December 2015

Osborne's plans for London "devolution" look likely to lead to more hospital closures - and even less say for local people.

Nasty party's racist policies damage the NHS

John Lister 17 September 2015

Nurses forced to leave Britain, new charging systems being set up even for emergency care - Tory policies are damaging the NHS, writes John Lister in an article from the latest Keep Our NHS Public newsletter (download here).

Bart’s: a flagship hits the rocks of PFI

John Lister 18 March 2015

The biggest health trust in England - the PFI-indebted Barts - has been put into 'special measures' after inspectors found it was running dangerously short-staffed and overcrowded hospitals. What does this mean for the future of East London's hopsitals?

Labour NHS plan outrages privatisers

John Lister 4 February 2015

Labour's new plans to reduce private profiteering in the NHS have triggered a vicious counter-attack in the Tory press. Labour must ignore them - and do more to convince campaigners of its intent to protect and restore the NHS.

New NHS plans - forward view, frightening, or fudge?

John Lister 24 October 2014

The new NHS plans published yesterday ask for £8bn - more than any of the big three parties are offering - and offer £22bn of savings. But we've heard such promises before - where will they come from?

The first privatised NHS hospital - success or smoke and mirrors?

John Lister 26 September 2014

The first privatised NHS hospital, Circle Hinchingbrooke, is lauded as 'partnership' future by influential figures - but financial instability, deeply unhappy staff, and poor care are highlighted in a new report - and in a damning letter from the regulator today.

Should politicians summer reading lists include 'unthinkable' ideas for the NHS?

John Lister 18 July 2014

Corporate think tanks hope their bravely unthinkable suggestions to "fix" (or kill) the NHS are on politicians' summer reading lists. But why are far more popular and evidenced solutions - like reversing privatisation - so unthinkable to the political class?

Time to get even with Stevens

John Lister 11 July 2014

New NHS boss Simon Stevens has revealed his true privatising colours with this week's announcement on personal health budgets - which would wreck England's NHS services and leave the field clear for big business.

England has relatively few hospital beds - so why are there calls to close more?

John Lister 24 April 2014

The UK already has fewer hospital beds than most of Europe, so why do 'think tanks' suggest we should close more? John Lister finds a complex situation but sees other agendas behind their proposals to shift care to 'specialist centres' or 'in the community'.

London's NHS at the crossroads

John Lister 21 March 2014

A duty of candour for NHS managers and ending cash-driven closures - those are amongst the recommendations of the People's Inquiry into London's NHS which raises serious concerns of creaking services in the capital.

Ed Miliband, the NHS, and the lurch back towards Blairism

John Lister 13 February 2014

Ed Miliband’s Hugo Young lecture this week represents a giant step back to Blairism, and an extended statement of Labour’s failure to get the message.

Is Hunt about to wield the axe on London's hospitals?

John Lister 29 October 2013

Jeremy Hunt will decide this week whether to wield the axe on A&Es across North and West London. He is desperate to persuade voters that cuts will save lives.

People’s Inquiry – a grassroots vision for our NHS?

John Lister 14 October 2013

As the NHS groans under cuts and chaotic reorganisation, government bodies are calling for yet more 'radical change' and 'difficult decisions'. Will their answers be hospital closures and privatisations? The new People's Inquiry is calling for evidence to support a different way forward.

NHS gets a small refund

John Lister 9 August 2013

Any extra A&E cash is welcome - but Cameron is still putting private providers and investors before patients.

The neoliberal epidemic striking healthcare

John Lister 7 June 2013

Healthcare systems across the world are facing a 'man-made disaster' - the imposition of market-style 'reforms' that are neither appropriate nor effective. Journalist John Lister introduces his new book 'Health Policy Reform: Global Health versus Private Profit' that unpicks the facts behind the flimsy ideology.