League Of Friends Profile Higher Than Ever

13th December 2003

Jenny Spence and her fellow fundraisers find themselves at the forefront of a growing campaign to retain services in the Caithness General Hospital. From a small fund-raising group normally donating items to the hospital they find themselves rocketing towards national status as they galvanise local groups and support into one campaign to retain and improve services at their local hospital.

This small group of ladies has in a very few weeks lifted the campaign to heights previously unknown taking with them politicians local and national, a huge range of voluntary groups and the general public, galvanising the pent up anger from previous investigations into their campaign.

With a zero budget (they have refused all monetary assistance) they have depended on community spirit and determination to drive the campaign forward. Few campaigns have risen so quickly and with so much involvement at public meetings.

These ladies have read the mood correctly and taken appropriate action swiftly and with purpose. They are ordinary wives, mothers and grandmothers. The establishment perhaps needs to seriously consider not just the mumbo jumbo of risk assessment, financial management but the human factors before they come to any decision on the long term future of services like Maternity in the far north.

Experts have been proven wrong on many other topics - and mothers instincts often proved correct in the face of medical opinion. to a great extent we are not talking about clinical factors - it is about the will to provide quality services in rural areas.

The League of Friends has seen the Writing On The Wall for the hospital and perhaps for more wide ranging consequences to follow. A cornered mother in the wild often fights back and it should be remembered they often bite back. An organised group of them look even more frightening.