Shoot the messenger: Part two
WHEN Guernsey's director of public health released his annual report, the 113th such independent paper from someone who is also the MoH, there was a sharp intake of breath.
WHEN Guernsey's director of public health released his annual report, the 113th such independent paper from someone who is also the MoH, there was a sharp intake of breath.
That should not have been surprising. The expert document, compiled from a variety of sources and with many collaborators, painted a bleak picture.
Up to 10,000 islanders live in poverty – not just relative – and local people who are less well off are much more likely to be suffering from physical and/or mental health issues.
As a result of the study, its author concluded it can also be argued Guernsey is currently running at a health equity, or social justice, deficit.
But the political concerns expressed over the MoH report were not based on its findings but that Dr Stephen Bridgman – a States employee, of all things – had the temerity to express critical opinions which could be read to suggest that his political masters were doing a poor job.
It is a depressingly familiar knee-jerk response, as Deputy Mike Hadley has discovered having blown the gaff on less-than-optimal care standards at A&E and the huge amounts of public money being syphoned off by GPs to provide it.
That, of course, is one of the central points made by Dr Bridgman: unless you are well off, a visit to doctor or dentist is seriously injurious to health. Which is why so many don't go, adding to the island's already significant health inequality.
Work done by Housing and Social Security suggests the minimum income needed by a couple with two children is £27,000 and £17,368 for a pensioner couple. But how many get that?
Those two departments did try to tackle some of the issues but were rebuffed by an Assembly put off by the cost and the lack of detail in their joint report.
The reaction to Dr Bridgman's report shows that those same attitudes prevail, at least in certain quarters.
Guernsey turned its back on the least advantaged members of this society in the good times, which was bad enough.
To deny help now would be shameful, which is why the MoH's reminder is so unwelcome in certain quarters.
