IT IS not often that you make an appeal through the pages of the Oxford Mail to members of the Upper House, but this week the Lords vote on the Government’s proposals for the future of the health service.

As the Health and Social Care Bill has now been through the Commons, it is in the hands of the Lords to save the NHS as we know it.

Since I have no doubt that lords, baronesses, earls and countesses who live in Oxfordshire are avid readers of this publication, perhaps we can take this rare opportunity to appeal to members of the Upper House in Oxfordshire to vote down the Health and Social Care Bill this week.

We and many others believe the Health Bill is fundamentally flawed, that it will bring about the fragmentation and privatisation of the NHS and will speed the move towards insurance-based systems that only the affluent can afford.

Although there are some elements in the Bill such as broad-based commissioning that should be explored, the main thrust of the legislation is ideological (‘public bad – private good’) and will lead to the unravelling of an institution that is by no means perfect but still commands the overall support of the British people.

The NHS is indeed facing many pressures but it needs to modernise by responding in a developmental and measured way.

The Health and Social Care Bill will uproot the NHS by opening up commissioning to EU procurement law and will lead to its ultimate privatisation, where profit will be more important than need.

The Bill has attracted massive opposition from NHS professionals and from wider civil society.

The coalition parties did not outline these changes in their party manifestos and we would argue the Government has no mandate to make these changes.

If they still feel there is a case for radical reform, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats should articulate this in their 2015 manifestos and allow the public to make a considered decision via the ballot box.

Those old enough to remember will be aware of the barriers people experienced in accessing health care before 1945 and we fear that it will not be long before things revert to a pre-Beveridge situation.

The NHS is one of the institutions that binds us together as a country, and helps sustain social cohesion in the context of other forces which sadly drive us apart. We trust that the members of the House of Lords will champion the interests of the people this week by opposing the Bill in this crucial vote.

PHIL POWELL AND SARAH LOVING,Annesley Rd, Oxford