Over 100 people met at the North East London Council of Action Conference on Saturday 1st October 2011 and voted unanimously to occupy Chase Farm Hospital if planned closure goes ahead. Will TSG vans be commandered and turned into something useful, like ambulances??
The government plans to close many District General Hospitals around London, especially to scrap their A&E, Maternity and Paediatric units.
The meeting hall was near to Chase Farm hospital and speakers were frequently drowned out by the noise of blue-light ambulances taking patients to A&E.
I hadn't been involved in the Chase Farm campaign before and was really impressed by the group gathered there, young and old and and very friendly to newcomers. It was inspiring to see an elderly lady take the microphone and declare passionately how she was prepared to occupy the hospital, and how it belonged to them as residents of Enfield.
Visteon workers were also present to lend advice about occupations.
It was also striking to feel a real sense of community built around the presence of a local hospital, something that is often hard to find in England.
The group has been campaigning for the last 4 years against their hospital being closed. David Cameron and a local Tory MP had even made a shameless election pledge to reverse Labour's plan for closing Chase Farm. People at the meeting expressed a real sense of betrayal and dissolutionment with Parliamentary democracy. The meeting had an authoritarian socialist leaning, and there was no doubt that the State would support the Health Service if enough pressure was applied. One pensioner talked angrily about how all the political parties couln't be trusted. Then she asked what the alternative was - a few people muttered about a worker's government, but they didn't sound very convinced themselves. Still, people were certain that you had to have a government of sorts.
I want to know more about anarchist style alternatives to health care. If there is no National Health Service, supported by the Welfare State, how would an Autonomous Health Service work instead? If Enfield residents do occupy their hospital, it could be an interesting time to discuss anachist ideas about health care, in a situation where the local community have taken over a state-run hospital and are confronting the State. What will occupiers do if the State refuses to continue funding Chase Farm Hospital? How do you organise Social Welfare without the Welfare State?
The Council of Action are planning a large demonstration for December 10th. They reckon the government could try to close Chase Farm in January. They have been holding monthly pickets already and want a big picket on October 18th and another sometime in November. After the march in December they plan daily picketts to draw more attention and prepare for occupation.
Original article on IMC London:
