People power wins the day for Mat Unit

August 11th, 2008

There hasn’t been much cheer around in the last week with this miserable weather.

But there was a little ray of sunshine for us all with the news that the maternity unit at Inverclyde Royal Hospital is being saved from closure.

As revealed in the Tele, the health board has performed a U-turn and given this important service a three-year reprieve.

I am sure this will have been welcomed by just about everyone and is a clear victory for common sense.

For me, it is a good example of ‘people power’ winning the day yet again.

The good folk of Inverclyde have proved once more they are prepared to stand up and make their voices heard.

So I congratulate everyone that signed a petition or wrote a letter to the health board to make known their displeasure at these proposed cuts.

There is no doubt that all these little things played their part in swaying opinion and gave ammunition to someone like me to make further representations to the powers-that-be.

And it looks like we have forced a climbdown once more and seen off another threat to local service.

Too often the cynics write off consultations as a waste of time and insist the final decisions are pre-ordained.

This has shown us again that if people stand together and make their case, they will be heard and can make the difference.

The reward for our community will be quality and choice – mothers who want to have their children in Inverclyde can now choose to do so.

The maternity unit at Inverclyde will now be given the time to develop into a well-used and popular service and I for one hope many mothers take the opportunity to use the local service.

After all, they have earned it.