Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2013 | Page 55
COUNTRY LIFE
Link up or stay separate?
Sam Biles looks at how communications and links with the mainland are
improving in some areas and declining in others.
One of the buzz words in politics
recently has been ‘localism’ and
yet on the Island we seem to be
moving toward closer links with our
neighbours in Hampshire.
This sort of issue seems to raise
temperatures and can be hard to
disentangle the facts from the
emotions. The recent moving of the
operational control of Island’s schools
to Hampshire is an emotive issue.
However, if this turns out to benefit
the pupils then it will have been a
positive step.
The great medical advances in
recent decades are so expensive that
it is perhaps not possible to deliver
all of the up-to-date investigations,
procedures and treatments on the
Island.
Periodically stories circulate about
the Island losing its maternity, A&E or
other departments. On the surface this
looks to be retrograde, but regarding
the A&E, recent advances in the
paramedic and ambulance services
have led to a much higher quality
of treatment being delivered outside
hospitals that the traditional role of
A&E has changed. These situations are
perhaps more keenly felt here on the
Island than in other locations.
Ironically at a time when IT
communication is improving the
ferry services are being cut back and
becoming more expensive. Nowadays
anyone with a smart phone can
photograph a document, photo or
even an injury and text or email it to
the mainland in seconds. Similarly
the availability of the web and video
sharing sites such as Youtube mean
that the public can educate themselves
more about illnesses or treatment
options than at any time before. The
web reduces our isolation in so many
ways.
I have no particular beef with the
ferry companies and any free-market
thinker has to acknowledge that
if there are crossings with few or
no passengers then these will lose
money. The problem with the ferries
has led to a fixed link being raised
again and many people who have for
years championed the status quo are
wondering if this might be the answer
to the economic woes of the Island.
Their arguments are becoming harder
to ignore.
If more medical treatment is to be
centred on the mainland, and if this
makes sense clinically, then it becomes
more of a transport issue for patients
and relatives and one of logistics
rather than of principles. There are no
easy answers for any of this and the
important thing is for the Island to
have an adult and open discussion to
enable the best choices to be made.
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