| Democracy |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 30 April 2008 | |
|
'Representative democracy' as it currently exists in most organisations and in our own governmental structures cannot guarantee to be either representative or democratic. It is the election to positions of influence by the self-selected of the self-selected. It is driven and sustained by those who are motivated to take part and generally ignores the rest except in the run up to the next election. In such a system, if I want to have a voice I must first make the decision to seek election. If elected, I must have the time and be prepared to give up the time to attend meetings and do the work that necessarily arises from them. It is an inadequate democratic mechanism for the 21st century - just look at election turn outs - and particularly for the profession. How can the doctor in training in Preston have a consistent voice in decisions made in committee in London, especially in a febrile and fast-moving political landscape? That's the kind of fundamental question the introduction of Remedy Basic seeks to answer - because we believe the doctor in training in Preston, the medical student in Southampton and the consultant in Norwich have an equal right to be consulted, listened to and empowered as the self-selected activist who has the time and the inclination to sit on a committee.
Our ambition and passion - born out of the events of 2007 - is to transform medical politics and the way it is done. We want to build a lean, mean and flexible organisation that exists only to serve its constituency; provides a new model of leadership – leadership ‘with’ not leadership ‘over’; and reclaims the medico-political arena from the 'great and the good', the institutions which many perceive have failed them so badly, and the self-selected activists - in the interests of medicine and those it serves. What it has no ambition to do is become ‘another BMA’. RemedyUK is an organisation in development. It didn't exist this time last year and is taking its first steps towards becoming the organisation it strives to be. It welcomes and seeks constructive criticism and input. It is open to all. It threatens nobody but those who choose to perceive it as a threat There are three stages to making change happen. First, you're ignored. Then, you're attacked. Then - and only then - you're listened to. Remedy doesn't pretend to have all the answers - and in many ways, it's more interested in asking better questions. Because from better questions, better answers emerge. And medicine in the UK in 2008 has never been more in need of better answers. |