Sturgeon is Branded ‘Irrational, Emotional and Sentimental’
By PETER MACMAHON SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT EDITOR
THE author of the blueprint for the future of the NHS in Scotland yesterday condemned Nicola Sturgeon, the new health secretary, for taking a “sentimental, emotional, irrational” approach to health reforms.
Professor David Kerr launched his attack on Ms Sturgeon after it was revealed that the SNP Executive will tear up one of his key recommendations – centralising major hospital services in a few centres of excellence.
Ms Sturgeon is this week expected to announce that the devolved government will reverse decisions to close accident and emergency units at Ayr and Monklands hospitals.
But Prof Kerr told a Sunday newspaper: “It’s a pity the debate has become about bricks and mortar, rather than the best health service for people. There is a sentimental, emotional, irrational aspect to this decision.”
The Kerr Report, presented to the previous Executive, recommended centralising services such as cancer, heart treatment and accident and emergency units. It argued that having a small number of these units would provide better survival rates for patients and higher skill levels for doctors.
It also called for new community casualty units to deal with about 80 per cent of day-to-day accident and emergency cases.
Yesterday, Prof Kerr warned Ms Sturgeon not to “fudge” difficult decisions. The professor, who is to stand down from the group overseeing the implementation of his report, said the minister’s decisions would have “serious ramifications” for the rest of the NHS.
He added: “Is the plan wrong? I don’t think so. I think this is a plan to reorganise, to redesign accident and emergency care in Scotland, to improve the quality of care to save lives and to deliver it much more locally. I don’t think that has changed at all and, therefore, I don’t quite understand the reason for changing it.”
He praised former health minister Andy Kerr – they are not related – for making “some very difficult decisions”, and expressed disappointment that the his report was “starting to be unpicked and unravelled”.
Ms Sturgeon said yesterday that she had told Prof Kerr that the new government would adhere to the principles set out in his report.
She said that did not mean “that every decision that is taken in the name of the Kerr Report is the right decision”.
But she added: “I will take into account the great pressures that health boards are facing.
“I will take into account how clinicians want services to be delivered, but I will also give as much weight as possible to public opinion. The public, after all, fund the health service.”
(c) 2007 Scotsman, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.