12 May 2004
I find myself both saddened and angered by reading the news that Greater Glasgow Health Board is thinking about closing the in-patient wards at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital.
I know it's very easy to believe that alternative therapies are a lot of mumbo jumbo placebo nonsense, and that the people who both disponse and receive these therapies are little more than aging hippies.
Although I haven't been treated there, my mother has, on several occasions over the last five years. In fact, she began to be treated by the GHH long before they moved into their current custom-built premises, and I think that's one of the things that's irritating me the most.
They spent a lot of money on creating what is the least hospital-like hospital I've ever been in. It's a stunning building, and the atmosphere there is incredible, and why they would now even consider closing the in-patient wards, which make up the majority of its purpose seems like a ridiculous waste.
Unfortunately, I'm at work, so I can't get at the majority of the pictures I took the last time my mum was an in-patient there, but what I did have already online are displayed throughout this post.
... and it works.
Each time my mother went in, she came out feeling significantly better than she had when she went in. Not just in terms of having had a week away to relax, but the therapies actually worked for her and gave her not just some respite from the pain she suffers, but also improved her mobility and dexterity.
I'm not being very coherent about this, but really, I'm just disappointed. For some patients, even a week at the GHH can make a massive difference to their quality of life, and given the seeming lack of concern over conditions which aren't operable or easily treatable with cocktails of drugs, I hope that Dr Reilly is able to continue fighting his corner and keep the hospital open as it was intended to be.
I didn't know this was happening, but I agree with you that it is absolutely crazy. Having had direct experience of homeopathic treatments over the years I know for a fact that it can work, and I may say I approached it with utmost scepticism at first. The idea of closing down the hospital is just too narrow-minded for words. There will always be a place for these therapies in our society. Coincidentally, I was reading this typical piece of nonsense on the subject recently: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html
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