Report to the People
26th February 2007
We Spoke, They Listened
As
I’ve said before, there was a time, when we were campaigning, marching, and
demonstrating against the unlamented Argyll and Clyde Health Board’s plans to
destroy Inverclyde Royal Hospital, that I feared our hospital was living on
borrowed time. I certainly didn’t
imagine that, just a few years later, health board chiefs would be overwhelmed
by messages of public support for a set of proposals on the IRH’s future.
That,
though, is exactly what happened last week when the new NHS Greater Glasgow and
Clyde board met to consider plans to keep Accident and Emergency services, the
vast bulk of inpatient services and virtually all outpatient and day services
here in Greenock.
Back
in January, I urged everyone to leave the board in no doubt that our community
was demanding that these proposals be implemented. And, I’m proud to say, you did.
Across Inverclyde, people took the time to respond to the consultation,
underlining to the board the importance keeping health services accessible.
Indeed, one local woman even submitted a 107 signature petition.
This
unprecedented response left the board in no doubt that we were as determined for
these plans to be put into action as we were for the old plans to be stopped
dead in their tracks. Even health
board Chairman, Professor Sir John Arbuthnott, said he’d never seen anything
like it.
So,
thanks to everyone who made their voice heard, the board didn’t hesitate to
endorse the proposals and safeguard the future of our hospital.
Well done.
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