A pressure group has stepped up its fight against privatisation in the National Health Service.

The campaign group Keep Our NHS Public held a meeting in Brighton and Hove to boost interest in the national fight to stop health care corporations taking over NHS work.

Dozens of people attended last night's public meeting at Brighthelm Community Centre, North Road, Brighton, to hear key speakers discuss the NHS "crisis".

Speakers raised the issues of job losses within the NHS, debts across the health trusts and the impact on patients.

Liberal Democrat councillor Marina Pepper, chairwoman of Lewes District Council, said: "Staff are very overworked. Beds in hospitals are blocked.

Decisions need to be made locally.

"If the Government can afford the war in Iraq, I think they can afford to fund a non-privatised NHS."

Prominent health campaigner John Lister said: "The Government has increased spending in the NHS and they have actually managed to reduce waiting times and have employed some more staff to do it.

"But they need to expand the NHS the old-fashioned way.

"They need to put more money in, employ more people and then waiting times will come down.

"They call this modernisation but this system is going back to the dark days of the Thirties."

Bill Randall, Green councillor for Hanover and Elm Grove and member of the Brighton and Hove City Council health overview and scrutiny panel, said: "We will get a lot of large companies running GP surgeries, which I don't want anymore than you do.

"We need to work together to try to conserve the health service."

Paul Evans, director of the NHS Support Federation, who organised the meeting, said: "Most people are baffled by the complexity of the changes to the NHS.

"We hope the meeting will help to give people an insight into what to expect from their health service in the future.

"It is wrong to say the public are powerless. We certainly should be asking what is happening to our local services, especially when the future of patient care, NHS staff and public money is at stake."

For more information on the campaign and how to join, visit www.keepournhspublic.com or telephone Paul Evans on 01273 234822.