Greenock Telegraph | Opinion | Dismayed at loss of funding

Thursday, 4th December, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 7th May, 2008 16:30

Dismayed at loss of funding

I AM writing this letter as a stakeholder and former client of Phoenix Community Health Project, to express my anger and utter dismay at the decision to withdraw funding from Phoenix Community Health Project.

In the time this project has been in place, it has raised the profile of health issues considerably and has helped attract and enthuse many individuals who would otherwise be less well-informed and unaware of the important health issues at stake and the services provided. I am one of those individuals.

I also feel the general person on the street will feel isolated and let down again by policymakers. Isn’t that another surprising accusation to be directed at our local authorities?

How are we to move forward when nothing is ever given a chance to establish itself before some empire-builder somewhere decides to make a name for themselves by changing policies and decisions at such embryonic stages of projects?

I am not going to insult people by regurgitating statistics about the health of the average Scottish man, or the average man in Inverclyde, but to blatantly end a service that has been engaging with those in most need within our communities is surely sacrilege to the people of Inverclyde and a strong indication as to the attitude of those in power to the health of the average person in our area.

I refer to the Scottish Executive document Community Health Partnerships: Involving People Advice Notes (Dec 2004) that states the PPF should be based on the following principles: openness, honesty, transparency, tackling health inequalities and promoting health improvement, engaging with people, respecting and promoting equality and diversity, respecting and valuing the individual, listening to, hearing and acting upon what people say, inclusion, giving and receiving feedback, learning from each other.

Most of these principles fly in the face of the decision made.

How are we as men supposed to believe and trust the people in positions of authority when time and again they are found to be hypocritical regarding their own ideals?

This was never going to be an easy battle to win, given the state of the nation’s health, particularly us men.

However, to blatantly give up on a worthwhile, well-established project with our local community at this stage is absolutely beyond belief.

Surely it should have been the aim of this project to become long-term, sustainable and be a mainstream service similar to that on offer to females within the NHS?

BRIAN KELLY

Dipple View, Kilbirnie

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