NHS consultant surgeon, Phillipa Whitford, tells voters at a public meeting in Westwood Hall that a Yes vote in four weeks time is essential to ensure the NHS stays alive in Scotland.
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NHS consultant surgeon Phillipa Whitford
addressing voters at a public meeting in Westwood
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Yes East Kilbride has continued its programme of door-to-door canvassing, taking the positive message for independence to all corners of East Kilbride.
The core Yes message is simple: by taking the powers and responsibilities of a normal country, Scotland can be one of the world’s richest nations and use this wealth to deliver a fairer society.
By contrast, the message from the No camp seems to be that we Scots are uniquely incapable of running our own affairs and must continue to rely on Westminster to take the big decisions for us.
One of the issues debated over the past week has been the future of our National Health Service.
While senior opposition and medical figures in England and Wales express alarm at the impact Westminster’s privatisation agenda will have on the NHS, Better Together says, not to worry, the NHS is safe in Holyrood’s hands.
The reality is that, in the event of a No vote, Scotland would be under immense pressure to follow the same path as Westminster on the NHS.
We have already seen how this kind of pressure works under devolution with PFI contracts, promoted by the UK Treasury, creating major difficulties for the NHS and local authorities.
Most notably for East Kilbride, the Hairmyres PFI contract continues to create difficulties in improving the quality of service in the hospital.
On Friday, August 19, the future of the NHS featured heavily at a packed public meeting in Westwood Hall.
The speakers were Cat Boyd, a trade union activist, Kate Higgins, of Women for Independence, and Philippa Whitford, an NHS consultant surgeon.
With over 30 years’ experience working in the NHS, Philippa Whitford’s message was clear, a Yes vote is essential to ensure the NHS stays alive in Scotland.
Saturday saw a welcome innovation when the town centre management provided space for both sides of the campaign to provide information to shoppers.
The response at the Yes stall was simply overwhelming, fully justifying the decision to make this opportunity available.
By agreement with Better Together and the town centre, both campaigns will repeat the exercise this Saturday – please do pop down for a chat!
Yes East Kilbride believes the response on Saturday justifies the continuation of this service from now up to referendum week.
We’ll keep you posted.
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