Report to the People
23rd August 2004
The Voices of Influence Don’t Go Unheard
It
is a fact of life that, no matter how egalitarian the society, the voices of the
influential will, by definition, carry more weight than those of the masses.
The
football manager’s analysis of a game, for example, has more influence on the
team’s next performance than the fans’ or pundits’ assessments.
A restaurant critic’s opinion of a particular eatery has more bearing
on the establishment’s future than, say, the views of six blokes who’ve just
rolled in from the pub.
And
it means that the decision of local consultants to speak out against Argyll and
Clyde Health Board’s seriously flawed Clinical Strategy is extremely
significant. As the battles over
the centralisation of health services in Glasgow, Wick and elsewhere show, the
mobilisation of the medical profession is the only chance communities have to
put real pressure on Health bosses.
And
that is exactly what the 50 or so top medics did when they signed a letter to
the Board rejecting its proposals. When
we are sent to see a consultant, we listen to them. We respect and value their views. And for that reason, they do not give their opinions lightly.
So when 55 speak – and speak as one – they cannot be ignored.
Their
intervention means that the detailed and well-founded criticisms we have been
making throughout cannot now be dismissed as the sentimental wailing of the
ignorant. It is no longer credible
to argue that the thousands who have taken part in marches, rallies, meetings,
consultation events and letter writing campaigns simply don’t understand the
issues.
I
think we understand perfectly. Consultant
surgeon, Ian Morrice, made clear at last week’s meeting in the Gamble Halls
that his colleagues acknowledge that the current situation needs to change.
Certainly anyone who has been watching as we’ve descended into what
seems like perpetual crisis management knows that we need to deal properly with
the challenges presented by, for example, the European Working Time Directive,
new working practices and Royal College guidelines.
But,
as is becoming more and more glaringly obvious with each passing day,
ill-thought out plans are not the way to do it.
You
wouldn’t need to be Dr Kildare to see that the Clinical Strategy is now dead
in the water, so let’s not waste any more time.
Let’s send the Health Board back to the drawing board and get down to a
serious debate about the future of acute health services in the west of
Scotland.
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