Report to the People
11th July 2005

Not Diverted
It’s hard to find words strong enough to describe the terrorist atrocities in London last week.  

That these twisted bombers would indiscriminately attack the very same British people who were uniting under the Make Poverty History banner - campaigning against oppression and injustice around the world and putting pressure on world leaders at the G8 summit to give the poorest a better deal - shows just how morally bankrupt they are.

Although, almost as an act of defiance, people are determined to get back about their business, events like this do stop you in your tracks.

Before I heard news of the attacks, I was preoccupied with the IRH children’s ward.

On the face of it, it seemed the same old story: a Royal College decides a ward doesn’t meet its criteria and declares it will withdraw accreditation.  The one club golfers at the Health Board then can’t wait to jump in and close it down.

But times have changed.  With the Kerr report putting the spotlight on health service providers and the Board heading for the chop, perhaps those in charge are now more willing to listen.  And, after exchanges with the Health Board and meeting Dr Adrian Margerison of the Royal College of Paediatrics, the ward’s accreditation has been extended.

Our children deserve healthcare fit for the 21st Century - in wards, in the community and at home.  But that can only be delivered by having a strategy which recognises the needs of our community.

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