Report to the People
Funding Levels in the IRH
Unlike many other weeks, when I have a choice of topics for this column, there can only be one subject today. It is the debate which has been taking place in our community over the funding of services in Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
These stories have concerned me as much as everyone else in Greenock & Inverclyde. As a politician, it was my job to successfully argue for more money to be invested in the system and it is disheartening to read that the benefits of increased funding are not being realised.
Significant extra investment is going into the NHS and when you speak to health service bosses, they confirm this. But on the ground there is a sense of frustration that results are not more apparent.
I share that frustration.
Where is this money going? To put it in crude terms, why is the money which politicians put in at one end not being spent on patients at the other?
It was to try and begin to answer this question that on Friday, together with my Westminster colleague, David Cairns, I met with management, staff and their trade union representatives in Inverclyde Royal Hospital. These meetings were very useful and gave us a greater understanding of the issues at the coalface.
And it is encouraging to see that senior managers and clinicians responded so swiftly to my call for them to get together to discuss how they can take the situation forward.
Looking at the wider picture, this episode has made it clear that the NHS debate has been too closed. It is largely between clinicians and managers and between Boards and Trusts.
It is, of course, right that health service professionals take the detailed decisions about how funds are spent. How we make best use of NHS resources is a complex issue and certainly not one I am qualified to judge. Indeed, when I ask 3 different specialists how they would spend an extra £2 million, I get 4 different answers.
But the support of the local community – the NHS customers – is vital if local health services are to meet local health needs. And to have this support, the public must have their say.
I will continue to argue for extra investment in the NHS and a fair share for Greenock & Inverclyde. But I am also determined to find out why the delivery process has gone wrong and how it can be put right.
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