What you can do:

Writing to the press

PRESS RELEASES

Press releases from local Keep Our NHS Public campaigns can maintain an ongoing response to events, and keep a high profile with local journalists for press, TV and radio.

If you are sending out a press release make sure that it is clearly identifiable, preferably using the Keep Our NHS Public logo, and is clearly labeled with the date of issue, giving contact details so that journalists can check out the facts you offer.

Make sure that the information you include is accurate, and written as accessibly as possible with a minimum of jargon: and don't forget to put in a direct quote from yourself or a high-profile spokesperson from the campaign.

  • See a sample Press Release

    WRITING TO THE PRESS

    Letters sent to newspaper editors can be an effective way to raise the profile of an issue. Local councillors and MPs always read the local paper to pick up on issues. Letters can often start a debate, which can then develop into a full-scale news story.

    SAMPLE LETTER


    Dear Editor

    I am very concerned about the way that private sector is expanding at the cost of the NHS. We were told by the government that private providers were being used to help treat NHS patients faster.

    Now it seems NHS services are being transferred into private hands and out of the NHS altogether (insert local example where possible).

    Already many local hospitals are facing mounting debts as private providers take the simple profitable cases but leave the more expensive and complex cases to the NHS. Staff can now be poached or transferred into the private sector and those that remain lack the mix of cases to progress their training.

    Even the government admits outsourcing is expensive: lowest estimates put the cost at 10% more than the NHS.

    No one would deny that this money should be spent to get faster care for patients, but surely not on simply transferring services out of the NHS.

    We need to expand NHS services not undermine them. If fast track treatment centres are a good idea, why not continue to expand the few that are currently run and managed by the NHS?

    Yours faithfully,