March 9th, 2011<\/p>\n
Cheers to the volunteers<\/strong><\/p>\n Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil and shadow health secretary Jackie Baillie said \u2018cheers to the volunteers\u2019 during a visit to Inverclyde Royal this week.<\/p>\n The local MSP introduced Ms Baillie to the Hospital League of Friends, the voluntary group who run the tea bar and raise thousands for the IRH.<\/p>\n Chairperson Jean Rees told the shadow health secretary about the local campaign that saved the tea bar last year when health bosses threatened to close it.<\/p>\n Mr McNeil has gained an assurance from Jackie Baillie that these voluntary groups will have her full support if she is Scotland\u2019s health secretary after the May election.<\/p>\n Jackie Baillie, shadow health secretary said: \u201cIt was clear there was huge support for the volunteers at Inverclyde Royal when health bosses got it badly wrong last year and it was a reminder to us all the huge part they play in delivering the local services people want.<\/p>\n \u201cLike all other parts of Scotland, Inverclyde faces a significant challenge in sustaining and even improving on the current standards of health provision at a time of spending cuts.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I am confident that we can retain a health service in Inverclyde that is both local and of high quality and I know that volunteers have big role to play in helping us to achieve that ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n During her visit to Inverclyde, Jackie also met with the Inverclyde Elderly Forum and the Inverclyde Carers Centre to take questions on her plans for a National Care Service.<\/p>\n She also visited the oncology department at the hospital to discuss her proposals to cut cancer waiting times to just two weeks.<\/p>\n Duncan McNeil, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, said: \u201cIt is clear from our meetings today that people recognise in Jackie someone who will stand up for local services and ensure the most vulnerable get the best possible care.<\/p>\n \u201cA National Care Service will tackle the challenges of our growing elderly population and ensure care is not compromised and people can have dignity in their old age.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the pledge to cut cancer waiting times will save lives by ensuring we get the earliest possible diagnosis and can begin treatment as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 9th, 2011 Cheers to the volunteers Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil and shadow health secretary Jackie Baillie said \u2018cheers to the volunteers\u2019 during a visit to Inverclyde Royal this week. The local MSP introduced Ms Baillie to the Hospital League of Friends, the voluntary group who run the tea bar and raise thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duncanmcneil.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}