This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Malcolm Chisholm Walks The Talk
27/11/2000
Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care Malcolm Chisholm met with young people in Glasgow today as he launched the resource pack for 'Walk the Talk'.
Speaking at the Marriot Hotel, Mr Chisholm said,
"For too long now, health services have been organised to meet the needs of the health service and its professionals. That is changing. As part of the development of the Scottish Health Plan which will be launched on 14 December, the Minister for Health Susan Deacon and I have listened to many people and their experiences of the health service.
"Our aim is to create a health service which has only one focus - the people it serves. For too long the internal market in the NHS set different parts of the service to compete against each other. Local authorities have had different priorities and funding streams and community and voluntary groups have had to spend much of their time fighting their way through the system rather than working with it. That has to change.
" We are now working to remove old barriers and find new ways to work together to meet the needs of the people of Scotland. We have heard many great examples today of how people have developed new services in partnership, often despite the system rather than because of it. We need to learn from their experiences to make things better for all of our young people.
" We need to develop the right kind of advice and support, available to young people at the right time, in the right way and in the right place.
"The 'Walk The Talk' initiative is committed to helping young people grow in maturity and self confidence, by giving them easy access to knowledge and good health education and involving them in the design, delivery and management of young people's services.
"In September Susan Deacon announced that £1 million would be made available from the Health Improvement Fund to support the development of young people's services. The next phase is over to you, the service users and professionals. The work will start today in finding out what young people would find useful and helpful in their lives. This is an exciting time and I look forward to every development and every piece of progress which makes the difference for the people of Scotland and all of our futures."
News Release: SE3037/2000
27 Nov 2000