46 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
46 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
Health Con International
|
|
|
|
With the Health Care International fiasco rumbling on in
|
|
Clydebank, it is time to ask just what is happening to our
|
|
hospitals and health services.
|
|
|
|
At the same time as millions of pounds worth of subsidies have
|
|
gone into profiteering for the wealthy at Clydebank, Greater
|
|
Glasgow Health Board have chosen to make across board savings of
|
|
z56 million by cutbacks in services. Whole hospitals, such as the
|
|
Western Infirmary and Rutherglen Maternity are to be completely
|
|
closed (The Courier, 23/12/94).
|
|
|
|
This leaves many people having to travel further to be admitted
|
|
to hospital and the obvious dangers this creates. It leaves
|
|
friends and relatives isolated miles away from hospitals, causing
|
|
practical and financial difficulties and making many reliant on
|
|
inadequate public transport to visit people in hospital or be an
|
|
out patient.
|
|
|
|
Far from condemning this situation, Labour M.P. Sam Galbraith is
|
|
quoted as saying "Greater Glasgow Health Board are to be
|
|
congratulated on this sensible proposal" (Courier, 24/12/94).
|
|
With so little opposition, it is will be hardly surprising if the
|
|
Scottish Office rubber stamp the plans. The Scottish Office,
|
|
while happy to see z17.6 million of public money "written off"
|
|
after the HCI failure and another z4.4 million offered as a
|
|
"sweetener" to business interests (The Herald, 16/1/95), may find
|
|
money too tight to mention when it comes to health care for need,
|
|
not profit.
|
|
|
|
Of course, other expenditures do not meet the same criteria. The
|
|
Eurofighter, designed to combat a nonexistent soviet threat, will
|
|
cost z13 billion (probably double that) and the National Audit
|
|
office has discovered that z800 million has been "lost" in
|
|
putting up huge sheds for Trident. Not forgetting the z23 million
|
|
owned in corporation tax or the z1600 million owned in unpaid
|
|
VAT.
|
|
|
|
We have one option, ordinary people must make their voices heard,
|
|
resist the cuts and the corrupt system that goes with them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|