Fire alarm incident throws health board changes into focus
IT’S HARD to imagine what patients and visitors thought at Dr Gray’s Hospital on Monday as a fire alarm sounded for 15 minutes. Was this for real, was it a false alarm, where were the emergency services, what’s going to happen to us?
It turned out to be a false alarm, but the incident brings into question the recent decision, against many local wishes, to close down the switchboard at the hospital and centralise it in Aberdeen.
Fifteen minutes elapsed from the time the alarm sounded to the city switchboard being notified and the fire service being contacted. The health authority tells us that staff had already identified the false alarm, a result of workmen finding a fault in the system, and if there had been a fire the emergency alert would have been raised.
But the public will be left wondering ... what if?
How can such a simple action in repair and maintenance work cause such unease? It shakes public confidence, and public confidence is paramount when it comes to protecting the safety of people in vulnerable positions.
The health authority can’t expect the people of Moray to be reassured by a few sentences; they need a fuller explanation that the loss of the local switchboard does not leave us worse off, not just on the safety front, but on the quality of service being offered to the public.
We have to be confident that all necessary procedures and back-ups are in place; we have to be sure that our friends and relatives are safe in hospital, that there is no repeat of this kind of problem.
The public deserve to hear more on this; it can’t be the end of the matter. The stakes are too high.
Noise nuisance
NOISY NEIGHBOURS can make our life hell, and the failure to achieve a resolution to the problem just adds to the awful experience.
A ‘Scot’ reader this week relates that she has had to endure pounding music, noise from callers throughout the night, people looking in her window, and abuse when she dared to complain. No-one should have to put up with that kind of nightmare.
Legislation is supposed to have been brought in to help "victims" of this and other kinds of bad behaviour, but actions are not often as quick and decisive as they need to be. The victim is often left feeling that consideration is weighted on the side of the perpetrator.
Put those in authority, they say, into the position of being hounded by noise and unacceptable behaviour, and see how they like it. They wouldn’t, of course.
A way has to be found to bring a speedier and more satisfactory end to neighbour nuisance. People should be able to feel at peace in their own home; they shouldn’t have to endure hell.
