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CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE is proud to have played a part (with many other campaign groups & contributors) in persuading the Health Secretary Wes Streeting to order a review of what physician associates do in the NHS, amid growing alarm in the medical profession about patient safety.
The films produced by CSJ on the Physicians Associate scandal have been watched millions of times igniting a wider public debate on this issue. CSJ has also supported grass roots campaign group Anaesthetists United in its legal action against the General Medical Council (GMC) calling for nationally agreed guidance on what physician associates can and cannot do (scope of practice). The review will examine the safety of their roles and how patients should be made aware that, despite their titles and ability to diagnose illness, they are not doctors and can only perform certain tasks. The health secretary has appointed Prof Gillian Leng, an expert in evidence-based healthcare and the former chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to lead the review. About 3,500 physician associates and about 100 equivalents who work in anaesthesia - called anaesthetic associates - are already working in hospitals and GP surgeries in England. Taken together the number of "medical associate professionals" (MAPs), as they are known in the NHS, is due to treble to about 10,000 by 2037 under the service's long-term workforce plan. Physician associates can take a patient's medical history, conduct physical examinations, analyse test results, diagnose illnesses and help draw up the plan for managing the person's condition. They do two years of training, far less than a doctor. But there has been concern that their limited medical knowledge could lead to patients receiving poor care and also getting confused about whether they have seen a doctor or not. There have been repeated calls for their title to be changed to clarify that they are not medics. Streeting said many physician associates provide good care and “free up doctors to do the things only doctors can do" - which was the role originally envisaged for them. "But there are legitimate concerns over transparency for patients, scope of practice and the substituting of doctors. These concerns have been ignored for too long, leading to a toxic debate where physicians feel ignored and PAs feel demoralised.” CSJ will monitor the review closely. It’s hard to believe CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE launched just nine months ago! With a million followers across a number of social media channels, over 600 million impressions and 70 million video views CSJ was created as a vehicle to give campaigns and charities the voice they have been denied by mainstream media.
Following the campaigns launch video which hit 3.5 million views in a week CSJ hit the ground running with its first film highlighting one of the most shameful & monumental injustices of the past half-century - the IPP scandal. The film got over 15 million views, was widely reported and quoted several times in the House of Lords debate. It also ignited a wider public storm on what former supreme court justice Lord Brown called “the greatest single stain on the justice system”. Perhaps not surprisingly the public reaction to the film was one of shock, outrage, and disbelief. These are typical of the comments the film received “Truly shocking” “Absolutely horrifying" “Unbelievable” “Utterly awful” “Madness” “inconceivable” “cruel” Our two follow up films on this monumental miscarriage of justice were seen millions of times again helping to bring this issue to a wider public audience. CSJ also supported & promoted an online petition calling for resentencing of those serving IPP sentences - helping to force a government response. In February 2024 our CEO Peter Stefanovic met with then Shadow Minister for Victims & Sentencing Kevin Brennan to raise concerns. CSJ also supported & promoted the trailer for BRITAINS FORGOTTEN PRISONERS - one of the most important documentary films of the year and a shocking exposé of the IPP scandal - taking it to over a million views. Our CEO attended the film’s world premiere on June 13 at the 2024 Sheffield DocFest. CSJ continues to work with & support many amazing campaign groups and organizations campaigning for justice for IPP prisoners including UNGRIPP and IPP Committee In Action and has helped the brilliant Trapped podcast to reach a wide audience. CSJ will continue to fight for justice for the close to 3,000 individuals, including many minor offenders, still languishing in our prisons today and for the implementation of the Justice Committees call for a comprehensive re-sentencing Programme. CSJ has supported our former miners and the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign by producing a film highlighting an historic injustice which has seen successive Governments take at least £4billion out of the miners pension fund leaving many living and dying in poverty. The film produced by CSJ, watched almost 3 million times, called on all political parties to commit to implement in full the recommendations of Parliament’s Business and Industry committee to end this injustice once and for all. The film again ignited a wider public storm with an outraged public getting firmly behind our former miners. CSJ called on labour to step up and lead the way by backing the committees recommendations by including them in their manifesto. On 13 June Labour launched its manifesto in which it committed to "end the injustice" of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and to review the "unfair surplus arrangements" and transfer the investment reserve fund back to the members of the scheme" so that the "mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.” CSJ will always stand shoulder to shoulder with our former miners & will watch developments closely to ensure the new Labour government fulfills this commitment Our films supporting Liberty in its legal action against former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman over her undemocratic decision to ignore Parliament and make law by the back door were again watched millions of times & helped Liberty to achieve its crowdjustice target. The case became No1 in Crowdjustices top twenty cases in 2023. Liberty won the case with the High Court finding the then Home Secretary had acted unlawfully. The last Government appealed the decision shortly before calling a general election and we now await confirmation of whether the new government will pursue or abandon that appeal. Our films highlighting the importance of the UK remaining in the European Convention on Human Rights when former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused to rule out joining Russia and Belarus as the only European countries outside the ECHR were again widely reported and watched millions of times. CSJ’s films highlighting the Physician Associates scandal have again been watched millions of times and have helped bring this matter to wider public debate. PA’s are not doctors, they do not have the same training as doctors, but are being permitted to take on many of the roles doctors have traditionally fulfilled. The press have reported on troubling cases and CSJ is supporting Anaesthetists United who are taking urgently needed legal action to protect patient safety. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to be in love then CSJ’s support for Reunite families UK will resonate with you. Last December, the then Tory Government said it would double the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) – a minimum salary that British citizens and settled residents must earn if they want their loved ones to join them in the UK. The new government appears to have adopted the plan to raise the MIR in three stages. The first increase, from £18,600 to £29,000 came into force in April. By spring 2025 it plans to raise the threshold to £38,700. Yet 70% of the UK workforce earns less than this amount. Thousands of families have been separated since Theresa May first introduced these rules in 2012. This massive hike will mean that even more families will have to split up, while others will be unable to come back to the UK. Even the current level is a struggle for many people – women in particular – who have been forced into single parenting and now juggle work and childcare while their partners are prevented from joining them in the UK. And the new rules will significantly impact future generations encouraged to travel and live abroad, effectively preventing people from forming relationships with those they meet overseas due to the higher threshold. Reunite Families UK is standing up for the thousands of couples and families who get in touch every day, expressing their shock and concern that they can’t be with their loved ones in their country of birth or adoption and CSJ is standing with them. At CSJ we believe all of us must stand up for the right to love - and to be loved - the freedom to love who you choose should be your right alone - no one else’s. Our film supporting Reunite families UK and their crowdjustice fund has been watched a million times and has helped to bring this issue to a wider public audience. CSJ also supported the Reunite Families UK petition for a debate in Parliament helping to take it past the 100,000 signatures needed for a parliamentary debate. Following the election in July, the new House of Commons will appoint new committees & whilst it will be up to the new Petitions Committee to decide whether to schedule a debate on this petition previous Petitions Committees have generally agreed to schedule debates on petitions that received 100,000 signatures but were unable to be debated before a general election. CSJ will be supporting Reunite Families UK in pressing for that debate in the new Parliament! Our film supporting Trussell Trust in calling on UK political party leaders for an Essentials Guarantee to make sure Universal Credit protects people from going without the essentials was watched 1.2 million times helping to bring this important issue to a wide public audience and helping the petition to achieve over 150,000 signatures in support of an Essentials Guarantee. CSJ has supported the British Dental Association in calling on the new government to offer real urgency and ambition to save the NHS dental service and prevent widening inequalities. CSJ produced a number of films highlighting the dangers and risks for human rights and breaches in international law of the Tory Governments Rwanda scheme (now scrapped by the new government) again been watched millions of times. CSJ has joined The British Heart Foundation in inspiring the nation to learn lifesaving CPR. Many of us will witness a cardiac arrest in our lifetime and CSJ wants you to be ready for that day with RevivR, a fast, FREE & easy-to-use online training course which will enable you to learn CPR in just 15 minutes. Our post supporting the campaign was seen almost a million times. You will find full details of the course on the British Heart Foundation website. Almost 450,000 people have now engaged with the online training course to learn CPR. LET’S MAKE IT A MILLION! CSJ has supported & continues to support numerous other campaigns & charities by sharing their content to a wide audience and supporting and promoting the causes they support. Not taking time to draw breath CSJ has also produced a number of FACT CHECK videos holding politicians to account which have again been widely reported and watched millions of times CEO Peter Stefanovic said “For me CSJ is about action, it’s about helping to bring about real change, and it’s about doing that as quickly as possible” In January 2024 Stefanovic was named as one of the countries top 100 change makers for 2024 by the Big Issue. There are some amazing organisations doing incredible work to right the imbalances we encounter in everyday life, but it can be difficult to find them all, or to be notified of new projects launching. Campaign for Social Justice aims to shine a light on the incredible initiatives out there and to inform you how you can get involved and show support. These organisations need your help to thrive – and you can contribute on any level. A simple act of acknowledgement through a social media post, educating friends and family, a donation or sponsored action can make all the difference and show that you care about making our world a better place. Campaign for Social Justice is thrilled to announce its CEO Peter Stefanovic has been named as one of Big Issue's Top 100 Changemakers 2024 in “Media & Campaigns”
https://www.bigissue.com/news/activism/changemakers-2024-media-campaigns/ We are excited to announce that the Campaign for Social Justice launch has been an unprecedented success! Our campaign launch video was viewed over 2 million times in just two days and our channels reached a staggering 50 million people in the first month. Our films supporting a number of campaigns, including resentencing for IPP prisoners, received over 10 million views and our new website had thousands of visits. A number of wonderful campaigns and charities have joined us and we are looking forward to supporting and promoting many more across our channels in 2024.
Social injustice is not confined to a single issue, it affects every aspect of our lives from poverty to housing to human rights and only by working together can we ever hope to eradicate it. At Campaign for Social Justice we want to give campaigns for social justice a voice on our media platforms - a voice they have long been denied by UK mainstream media, enable them to reach millions of people with their campaigns and help them to achieve their goals more quickly. So let’s do this, TOGETHER! |