Report to the People
18th April 2005
Healthy Debate
Conscious that, at this moment, the
conclave to decide the successor to Pope John Paul II should be taking place, I
hesitate to describe any goings on at Holyrood as “historic.”
But
there was, if not a bit of history, certainly a first in the Scottish Parliament
last week. As you’ll doubtless
have read in your Telegraph, the
Parliament’s debating Chamber was filled, not with MSPs, but with experts,
campaigners, officials and professionals from the world of healthcare.
This
diverse and knowledgeable group, in which Inverclyde was well represented, was
at Holyrood to debate both how the NHS could be reshaped to better meet
patients’ needs and possible solutions to some of the difficulties it faces.
Complete
with a Deputy Presiding Officer in the Chair, the Parliamentary-style debate was
organised by the Health Committee and focused on our NHS workforce planning
report. This, as you know, was
called after Health Boards across the country – not least Argyll and Clyde –
sparked outrage by pushing forward with unpopular centralisation plans.
Having
become something of an anorak about health policy in my time as an MSP, I found
the debate fascinating. The most
significant thing to emerge, in my view, was that the attendees from the
professions finally accepted that local difficulties are national problems and
need to be addressed as such.
There
was also an acknowledgement that they must now listen to the people.
At last, there is the realisation that change must take place with the
public’s support.
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