RESIDENTS are planning a protest in support of the NHS.

Rayleigh & Wickford residents are challenging prospective parliamentary candidates on their views on the NHS and urging people to ‘vote to protect the NHS’.

The day of action on Saturday, April 25 – just eleven days before the general election – has been co-ordinated by independent campaign group 38 Degrees. It will see local campaigners talk to hundreds of voters about the importance of protecting the NHS at the general election.

They will take to Rayleigh High Street at 11am, joining thousands of other people protesting on the same day across England.

The petition signatures will be handed over to the Rayleigh & Wickford MP candidates at 1pm by the Rayleigh High Street clock tower.

The campaigners are calling on people in Rayleigh & Wickford constituency to vote to protect the NHS in the general election, and will be challenging their MP candidates to protect the NHS from privatisation and funding freezes. They are also set to rate their MP candidates’ pledges on the NHS using an online tool.

Sam Neville a 38 Degrees member from Rayleigh said: “Our NHS has always been there for me and my family when we've needed it. But some politicians have already broken it up and sold parts off to the highest bidder and they've done it by the back door without our knowledge.

"The thought of my family being supposedly “cared” for by profit-making companies scares the hell out of me. For me this is the top issue of the general election. Prof Alison Pollock (co-writer of the NHS Reinstatement Bill 2015) stated the NHS in its current form is like an old oak tree that has had its roots cut off and the rest of it is just slowly withering away.

"That’s why I’m out in Rayleigh this Saturday with lots of others to spread the word that the way we vote on 7th May could determine whether our NHS will still be there for our children and grandchildren. I want 100per cent commitment from all Rayleigh & Wickford MP candidates that they will do everything in their power to keep the NHS public and reverse the existing privatised services.

"To quote the founder of the NHS, Nye Bevan: 'Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune, the cost of which should be shared by the community' That quote is what this petition is all about for me.”

David Babbs, executive director of 38 Degrees said: “This Saturday, people in Rayleigh will be talking to hundreds of voters about how their vote could protect the NHS this election.

“We want Rayleigh & Wickford MP candidates to see that the best way to win votes is to pledge to save the NHS from privatisation and funding freezes. Every candidate needs to realise that cutting NHS funding, or handing it over to private companies, is a huge turn off for voters.

“Saturday’s day of action is all about the people of Rayleigh & Wickford taking back the power, and putting their MP candidates to the test on the NHS.”

The Rayleigh & Wickford petition to save the NHS is at: www.38degrees.org.uk/nhs