Report to the People
16th July 2007
Healthy Partnership
If you’re
still scanning the horizon for the arrival of summer, then I’m afraid that
yesterday, apparently, was it.
Still, at
least we can go to work without feeling we’re missing out on a summer.
And there’s absolutely no danger of it being too hot to get on with
important business.
Last week,
for example, I met with the Chair of the new Community Health Partnership (CHP).
Whenever you
see words like “community” and “partnership” in some organisation’s
title, you’d be forgiven for reading “talking” and “shop”. But CHPs are one exception.
They can
improve the delivery of healthcare in communities by breaking down the
artificial barriers between different frontline services, from the NHS and
council, whose common interest is our health and well-being.
Then, under a coherent, overall plan, they can focus these services’
efforts squarely on meeting an area’s health challenges.
This, I have
long argued, means moving from simply treating us when we’re sick, towards
stopping us falling ill in the first place.
The
eradication of endemic ill-health in communities like ours is an ambitious goal.
But, having sat on the Committee
which scrutinised the CHP legislation, I believe it’s an achievable one -
provided the funding reflects our particular needs.
So, as well
as lobbying the health board for Inverclyde’s fair share, I will also be
warning the Health Minister against any moves to take money away from health
boards in the west of Scotland. The
NHS must be funded on the basis of need, not geography or political persuasion.
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