23 August 2006

What does he mean?

Ministers occasionally come out with utterances which are gnomic at best. The Herald has this:
"Health Minister Andy Kerr yesterday broke his silence to defend the closure of an accident and emergency department near his constituency...
He said: "I am firmly of the view it is in the best interests of patients." Mr Kerr claimed his reaction would have been the same if Hairmyres had been selected as a lower level emergency hospital.
He said: "The beauty in my view of all of this is we appoint health boards. They do all of that work and it is their job to recommend. The prospect of going to bed at night thinking 'that was a good political decision', knowing patients are going to die in five years' time, is something I do not do."

I think we know what he is trying to say, but disentangling that final sentence is impossible. Is Mr Kerr implying that health board members and officials go to bed thinking about the death of patients in five years' time? Surely not. But then again...

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