A GREENOCK woman who has devoted her life to fighting for better health services since the tragic death of her husband has issued a rallying cry for the public's help.

Campaigner Margaret Telfer has fearlessly made her voice heard for the last 26 years and she is as determined as ever to make sure that the powers-that-be listen to local people.

Along with fellow Your Voice community care forum member Margaret Tait, she is calling for more people to get involved to improve health and care services in Inverclyde.

The pair want to address issues like poor public transport links and the future of key services.

Retired teacher Margaret, 76, said: "Fighting for health services is my passion, it is something I feel so strongly about it.

"I lost my husband Douglas aged 52 in 1993 after a kidney transplant in the Western Infirmary - he died from blood clots.

"He should never have died, the after-care and everything was all wrong.

"He had polycystic kidney disease and my daughter has it as well - I couldn't let that happen to her, so I decided to do something about it."

Mrs Telfer started campaigning for kidney patients before becoming involved in setting up the community care forum, which later became Your Voice.

She has been involved in countless other initiatives, including the successful anti-knife crime campaign led by Inverkip man John Muir MBE.

In her former role as chair of Your Voice she represented the public on the influential Inverclyde Integrated Joint Board, which is responsible for the £150m health and social care budget.

From next year local communities across Inverclyde will be able to bid for funding for projects that will directly benefit their own neighbourhoods and Margaret is keen to make sure as many people as possible have their say.

She said: "We can all make a positive difference.

"We used to sit here ten years ago and think, what is the point, nobody is listening.

"But they are listening now.

"We are also the envy of other places and when we go to meetings in other areas they can't believe how much input we have.

"At the integrated joint board meetings we are encouraged to speak out and have our say."

Her fellow Your Voice member Margaret Tait, also 76, is a former sheltered housing warden.

She lost her husband very suddenly when she was 30, when her son was aged four and her daughter two.

Mrs Tait said: "I moved back home to Greenock to be closer to my family and through my different jobs and because of my own circumstances I became involved in Your Voice."

At the moment the forum is heavily involved in consultations about the new health and social care strategic plan, which will influence all frontline services for the next five years.

Mrs Tait added: "Transport links is one of the biggest problems we face in Inverclyde but they are listening to us and the new plan looks like it is tackling this."

Mrs Telfer added: "We can have a say and I urge everyone who can to come along to Your Voice or get involved in consultations and to find out out what is going on."