Save Lewisham Hospital: The Huge March on January 26, 2013

On January 26, 2013, in Lewisham, in south east London, I took these photos of an extraordinary demonstration, in which an estimated 25,000 people marched from the centre of Lewisham, past Lewisham Hospital and up George Lane to Mountsfield Park in Catford to save Lewisham Hospital from having its A&E Department closed, and other services severely downgraded, including its maternity services. It was one of the most exhilarating protests I have ever taken part in, a worthy successor to the one in the driving rain on November 24, when around 15,000 people showed up, providing the first thrilling indication that, in attacking the NHS in Lewisham, the government and the wrecking crew in the NHS's management had sparked a movement of resistance that spread like wildfire throughout the borough and beyond.

A second set of photos will be along soon, but for now, please enjoy these glimpses of the day that the London Borough of Lewisham resoundingly told Jeremy Hunt, David Cameron and the rest of the Tories masquerading as competent ministers, as well as Matthew Kershaw and the NHS management backing him, that their plans stink, that Lewisham needs to keep its A&E and maternity services, and that the cuts and privatisation aimed at the NHS, across London, and across England as a whole, need rethinking in terms of the needs of the people, and not the malevolent ideology of politically motivated austerity programmes.

For more information, see: www.savelewishamhospital.com/
And my most recent article here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/22/save-lewisham-hospit...
And my archive here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/tag/save-lewisham-ae/
Also see my photos of the November 24 protest: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632089076...
And the demonstration outside a consultation with Matthew Kershaw and his team in Lewisham in December: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632173200...