Report to the People
7th January 2008
Happy
2008
Happy
New Year!
The
decorations are down; the New Year’s resolutions are in full, grim effect; and
your mind naturally turns to what 2008 might hold.
I’m
tempted to say that at least it can’t be any worse than 2007, with its
miserable summer, terrorist attacks and hard times for Labour in the Scottish
Parliament.
But,
while I won’t pretend that 2007 will go down as a vintage year, it wasn’t
entirely without merit. Morton were
promoted to the First Division, where they are more than holding their own; I
had the immense honour of being re-elected as our community’s representative
in Holyrood; and my local government colleagues also won control of Inverclyde
Council.
Besides,
we can’t waste time moping about feeling sorry for ourselves when there’s
work to be done.
In
2008, for example, Holyrood will have to scrutinise the promised changes to how
the NHS takes major decisions, such as moving services.
As
our community has learned from our battles with health bosses over the years,
the key question is how we stop Boards dreaming up reorganisation plans then
forcing them through in the teeth of local opposition.
The government seems to feel that elected health boards would be the
answer, but I need to be convinced that this in itself would solve the problem.
Instead,
I believe that detailed, public hearings - possibly something akin to a Holyrood
Committee inquiry - would test both sides’ arguments more effectively.
Shouldn’t that, after all, be the whole point of the process?
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