A RALLY against the Government’s sweeping health service reforms is due to take place in York next weekend.

Organised by Defend Our NHS York, the march is intended to send a message to health secretary Andrew Lansley to scrap his controversial plans for the way health care is commissioned in the UK.

Speakers at the rally on Saturday next week will include Baroness Haleh Afshar, a crossbench member of the House of Lord and lecturer at the University of York, along with Gwen Vardigan, from the Royal College of Nursing.

James Chan, a doctor at York Hospital and co-ordinator of Defend Our NHS York, said: “The Government has been forced to stop the Bill in its tracks by grassroots campaigning, and high-profile lobbying from professional bodies.

“Now, we will continue to step up the pressure, and send a clear message to Cameron, Clegg and Lansley to scrap the Bill.”

He said it was the “wrong reforms, for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time”.

His colleagues at York Hospital were becoming increasingly concerned after the Government’s recent decision to pause the process, following a growing unease among health professionals and the public.

Dr Chan said: “It’s becoming more and more sensitive among staff. They have become more suspicious since the pause and are asking why there needed to be a pause.”

The march will set off from Clarence Gardens, opposite York Hospital, at noon on Saturday, arriving in Parliament Street at 12.20pm. The speakers will address the crowds until 1.30pm.

The Government’s reforms would see the responsibility for spending the billions of pounds of health budget money taken away from primary care trusts and given to local GP commissioning groups.

Defend Our NHS York is opposed to what it sees as a gradual privatisation of the health service.