Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital

The last time I visited a friend in hospital I came away feeling less than well myself. The whole place was intimidating, stressful, and chaotic. Not the sort of environment in which you’d want to recover from so much as a headcold. That’s not to say that the people working there were doing any less than their best, but when overworked and overstressed people are trying to cope with too many demands on too few resources, something’s got to give. Many people who work in the health service would recognise serious problems with their working environment – both for themselves and for their patients.
So it was a bit of a revelation to visit Glasgow’s “Centre for Integrative Care” at the Homoeopathic Hospital at Gartnavel last week.
Homoeopathygets a bit of a bad press in some quarters – the stereotype is of trendy people going in for trendy remedies involving twigs and leaves, but this image couldn’t be further from the truth that I found.
The Centre sees patients from all over the country, many referred for chronic conditions which have been treated with heavy drug regimes. Combining conventional medical techniques, alternative and complementary therapies, emotional support and an environment truly designed for peaceful recuperation, the Centre’s staff are able to address its patients’ problems in a holistic way and integrate the various strands of their treatment. The whole person, and the whole of their medical problems, become the focus of a therapeutic relationship between staff and patients. For the people I spoke to, it has been a huge improvement on the fragmented care they have received elsewhere. It also puts individuals in the driving seat, empowering them to take control of their treatment and their lives.
This approach is having a profound impact on patients, staff and students. Many patients see real improvements in their quality of life and reduce their reliance on prescription drugs and other NHS services. The staff have a working environment which is characterised by genuine and personal care, and in which a positive work culture leads to very low staff turnover. The students I spoke to expressed their astonishment at the difference between what they’d seen here and the reality of the other hospital placements they’d been on, in which stress and anxiety were par for the course. Several had been put off hospital work completely by what they had seen, until they arrived here.
How proud Greater Glasgow NHS Board must be of the innovative work being done at this Centre, unique in the UK.
Or so you’d have thought. The board recently announced that they are considering drastic cuts at the Centre, which would put an end to the entire in-patient facility. To imagine that the Centre’s in-patient work can be done within other units is to miss the point of Integrative Care altogether, and to endanger this service would be short-sighted in the extreme.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. Even if the cuts are agreed by the Board, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm will have to make the final decision. If Greater Glasgow is unwilling to keep such ground-breaking work under its wing, he has the opportunity to give the Centre direct funding as a national centre of excellence, and to free it from the constraints imposed by those unwilling to see its value.
Mr Chisholm has the chance to transform this threat into an opportunity, so please consider expressing your support for the Centre for Integrative Care by contacting the Scottish Executive. The more people who do so now, the safer the future of the Centre will be.

Euro election results

SCOTTISH GREENS STRENGTHEN FOOTHOLD ON SCOTLAND’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

The Scottish Green Party has secured its position as a main player in Scottish politics, yet again increasing its share of the vote in the European Parliament election [1]. The Greens polled almost 7% (6.77%) across all the regions of Scotland, converting their second vote in the Scottish Parliament elections into a first vote, with some striking local results particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Greens came out ahead of UKIP in Scotland (who were the third placed party in England and Wales) and also the SSP. Two Green MEPs, Dr Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert were elected in England.

Green Parliamentary leader Robin Harper MSP said:
“The Greens who were people’s second choice in the Scottish elections have now become people’s first choice. The core green vote in Scotland is solid as a rock, which bodes very well for forthcoming Westminster and Scottish elections. We now have our sights on Labour in key seats.

“We hail the results across Europe that sees almost 40 Greens returned to the European parliament including Green MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert from the UK. We couldn’t send a Green from Scotland to join them this time but with this steady increase in Green votes our time will come.”

Top Green Euro candidate Chas Booth said:
“I’m very satisfied with our results. The Greens are confirmed as Scotland’s fifth political party and a major player in Scottish politics. People who used their second vote for the Greens in the Scottish election have now used their only vote for the Greens.

“There is an increasing a proportion of people in Scotland who are naturally voting Green as their party of choice. The Green message, that our future quality of life depends on how we treat our environment and how we treat each other, is getting through. We can now look forward to increasing our vote yet again at the Westminster and council elections”

The Greens best local result came in Edinburgh North and Leith where it came second to Labour with 17.25% of the vote, ahead of the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the SNP.

In Glasgow, where the Scottish Green Party came second in Glasgow Kelvin on on 16.75% and third in Govan on 11.5% beating SSP, LibDems and Tories.

EDITORS’ NOTES:
[1] Scottish green Party previous election result: 5.8% in Euro 1999; 6.9% in Scottish parliament election 2003 [2] For European Greens full results see http://www.greens-efa.org/en/

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