HOW can you possibly argue with someone who saves children's lives on a daily basis? The initials after the names of the clinicians presenting the case for the closure of the children’s ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Paisley ("Mother: My boy would have died if ward had been closed", The Herald, February 20) to Nicola Sturgeon and Derek Mackay were a veritable cornucopia of alphabet soup. Yet the top table didn't even pretend to provide counterpoint and have a member of staff from Ward 15 to impart something positive to consider. Students of ex facto reasoning would do well to study this "consultation" that took place this week.
We in Paisley are no strangers to seeing received wisdom trashed 15 years later. The "concentration of excellence" theory gave us the Braehead shopping centre and almost destroyed our town centre. Tesco is taking the wrecking ball to "hypermarkets" and returning to manageable metros. I'm the last person in the parish to equate health care with groceries, but the idea that the Paisley paediatrics unit couldn't complement with the new hospital is in my opinion down to one reason only – filthy lucre.
When the catering services were being "out-sourced" in Ward 15 (privatised to you and me), the standard was such that the nurses and staff felt obliged to dig into their own pockets to ensure that good food essential for a child's recovery was there for them.
You won't read countless accounts like that above in the consultation paper. The amoral Gradgrindian calculus used to justify its closure was blind to those endless acts of altruism. The spreadsheet or tartan abacus simply can't quantify or measure such acts of kindness which seems to be so unfashionable these days.
Please don't see this as my cri de coeur but I understand Ms Sturgeon's entrance into politics was shaped by the apparent heartlessness of Mrs Thatcher, the having the sobriquet of "Milk Snatcher Thatcher". One act can define a politician’s legacy. If I were Ms Sturgeon or Mr Mackay I would reconsider the termination of Paisley's paediatrics unit. To have your imprimatur on the Ward 15 closure will result in ministerial visits to Paisley from this day forth being most unedifying.
Councillor Paul Mack (Independent),
Ward 5 (Paisley South), Renfrewshire Council,
2c Charles Avenue, Paisley.
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