Report to the People
10th May 2004
Swings,
Roundabouts and Space Invaders
Last
week wasn’t quite the Dickensian best of times and worst of times – even the
most melodramatic commentator would hesitate before comparing a week in the
Scottish Parliament to the French Revolution – but it did have its ups and
downs.
To
get the downside out the road first, my amendments to the NHS Reform Bill to put
patients’ rights on a par with those of the health professionals were, sadly,
defeated.
I
wanted to give patients a legally enforceable right to NHS treatment within set
time-limits and to place a duty on the new Community Health Partnerships to make
us all aware of these rights.
Such
a move was needed, I argued, because when health bosses sit down to consider
highly controversial issues such as service re-design, they are legally obliged
– thanks to measures such as the European Working Time Regulations and the new
consultant contract – to have regard to the interests of everyone, except
patients. Only once the four
corners of the debate, as defined by law, are agreed, do patients’ interests
get a look in.
If
successful, my modest proposals would have redressed this unfair imbalance. But,
alas, it wasn’t to be. Still, the
work goes on and I’m not about to let the issue quietly drop.
More
positively, however, as you may have read in your Telegraph, last week also saw a debate on the motion I tabled on the
abuse of disabled parking bays by perfectly able-bodied (unless you count sheer
bone-idleness as a disability) motorists.
This
lazy and selfish behaviour inconveniences and outrages those who rely on
disabled parking spaces and it cannot go on.
A
point, I am pleased to report, with which the Minister could not agree more.
During
the debate, I called for his help in getting all the interested parties round
the table to discuss the powers which are currently on the statute book and how
they can be used. “I am happy to
say,” he replied, “that I will do exactly that.”
And
of my call, if this fails, for powers to fine the so-called “space
invaders”? The Minister assured
me that, while the necessary amendments to road traffic legislation are a
reserved matter, he is happy to approach the UK Government if need be. “The Executive will continue to take the issue seriously
and, following today's' debate, we will do something about it,” he concluded.
So
it was, if you’ll pardon the football pundit cliché, a week of swings and
roundabouts – oh yes, and space invaders.
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