Press Release
9th September 2004

Defer Final Decisions Until Advisory Group Reports – McNeil
MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, is calling on Health Minister, Malcolm Chisholm, to defer any final decision on Health Board plans for service redesign until the National Advisory Group on Service Change (NAGSC) reports to Ministers in March 2005.  

Speaking after today’s meeting of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, which took evidence from Chair of NAGSC, Professor David Kerr, Mr McNeil said:

"It would be utterly pointless if, when the Advisory Group on Service Change reports, there are no services left to change.

"It is therefore essential that the Minister takes no final decisions until the group has completed its work and reported to him."

He continued:

"We need a national debate – you only need to look at the havoc being wreaked by the current Board by Board, crisis by crisis approach to see that – and I'm pleased that Professor Kerr and Professor Sir John Temple agree."

NAGSC was established by the Scottish Executive in April 2004 and is chaired by David Kerr, Rhodes Professor of Cancer Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology at Oxford University. The Group is responsible for looking at how NHS services in Scotland can be developed in the longer term. It is expected to report in March 2005.
ENDS

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