After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
Leeds’ missing hospital
A new children’s hospital and adult treatment centre were promised for Leeds five years ago. So where are they? asks Dr JOHN PUNTIS
DURING the past 13 years of Conservative stewardship, there has been a disastrous increase in NHS waiting lists together with staff vacancies and public dissatisfaction.
Austerity has been associated with almost a third of a million excess deaths while research by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine indicates overcrowding in hospitals compounded by the crisis in social care may be causing a staggering 500 deaths a week.
Insufficient numbers of GPs having to battle with increased workload means that patients are finding it more difficult to get appointments and staff subjected to huge stress are simply leaving.
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Behind Starmer’s headline-grabbing abolition of NHS England lies a ruthless drive to centralise control so that cuts of £6.6 billion can be made — even if it means reducing cancer services and clinical staff, writes JOHN LISTER



