Press Release
13th February 2003
Time for Unity – McNeil
Dismissing claims contained in
recent letters to the Greenock Telegraph regarding his
role in the campaign to retain services at the Rankin Maternity
Unit, MSP for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has
called on the whole community to present a united front.
"I am of course disappointed that I need to spend precious time – time which could be better spent actually doing my job and representing my constituents – responding to this sort of malign misinformation. But the claims made in these somewhat overexcited letters are so simplistic and erroneous, I am bound to set the record straight," he said.
"First of all, I was invited to two of this group’s meetings and to two rallies. A family commitment prevented me from being present at the first rally and I was able to attend and speak at the second. Parliamentary duties usually make it impossible for me to attend meetings in Greenock on a Tuesday night.
"Secondly, it is simply nonsense to claim that my ‘sole intention’ of attending one of this group’s meetings was to persuade them to cancel a rally. My concern was that regular rallies in Greenock, attended by fewer and fewer people, would not help us progress our case and involve the communities of Port Glasgow, Argyll and Bute and Ayrshire who would also be affected by the downgrading of the Rankin. This is not, after all, just a Greenock issue.
"Thirdly, it is alleged that it is not correct that the Rankin was saved from closure two years ago. Again, nonsense. Back then, we were facing a range of options, none of which would have seen a consultant-led service being retained at the Rankin.
"As a result of a lot of hard work from a lot of people, however, we managed to get these options downgraded and eventually discounted. The manager in charge of drawing them up has since left and the health chief who presided over the process is no longer in post (another issue which took up much of my time last year).
"Also, as I made clear in my column in the Telegraph on Monday, two years ago it was the number of consultants which was the issue. Thankfully, though, we were able to secure an extra consultant and the continuation of services at the Rankin. Now, however, it’s the lack of junior clinicians which is apparently the danger. I am as frustrated as anyone that the goalposts seem to have been moved.
"It is this shortage of medical staff across the whole Argyll and Clyde Health Board area which has triggered the current review.
"It is this staff shortage which caused the maternity unit at the Vale of Leven to close in October. And it is this staff shortage which has, in the past months, left the Rankin within days – if not hours – of closing for want of one or two medical staff. Do we seriously want to maintain this status quo?
"Fourthly, the purpose of a petition, as any campaigner should know, is to raise awareness of an issue and provide a concrete demonstration of public support with which you can back up your arguments. I doubt whether, without the hard work of our community in gathering support for the first petition, it would have been possible to make the progress we did. At this crucial period in the campaign, who could argue that reminding the health board bosses of this community’s opinion is not essential?
"Fifthly, it was stated that fears about the effect on other services of downgrading the Rankin are nothing new. I know. I never claimed they were.
"What is new, though, is the experience at the Vale of Leven, where the loss of maternity services now jeopardises a number of surgical services.
"Finally, the suggestion that I am somehow playing politics with this serious situation is as outrageous as it is false. I have no intention of dignifying conspiracy theories about the timing of this announcement with a response, other than to ask why on earth any politician would be desperate to engineer a review of his or her local NHS just before an election?
"At every stage of this process I have been working hard with the key players, gaining an understanding of the issues and gathering support for the case for the Rankin. No issue has taken up more of my time in the last three and a half years – as the most cursory glance at my website or my diary shows. (If you don’t have access to the Internet, all this information is available from my local office on request.) Not, though, that I want any plaudits for this. I’m simply doing my job.
"Members of this group regularly correspond with me and know all of the above perfectly well. I am therefore saddened at their decision to deliberately misrepresent my work and my integrity in this way. It is with deep regret that I can only conclude that those who suggest that there is a dominant political agenda at work here may be correct.
"Now is time to put petty differences aside, unite behind the Telegraph and work together for the outcome we want – a consultant lead unit at the Inverclyde Royal."
Mr McNeil concluded:
"There’s no doubt that the future
of our local health services is a complex issue and one which I
could go into in far more depth. I fear, however, that this would
render tonight’s Telegraph more like a telephone
directory than an evening paper. So, if you want more detail on
any point, don’t hesitate to get in touch and I will ensure
you get it. I would also, diary permitting, be more than happy to
come and discuss the issue with your community group, society or
association – just send an invite to the office."
ENDS
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