Democracy Comes to NHS Lanarkshire

Strathaven based MSP Linda Fabiani, has welcomed the fact that people in the NHS Lanarkshire area can now have a say in the running of their local health board after Scottish Government plans for democratically elected health boards was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Under the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) Bill, members of the public are able to stand for and vote in elections to health boards and together with elected local council members, they would form a majority on the board.

This progressive step would allow people to play an active part in shaping the decisions of health boards, which in 2009-10 will spend a record £8.64 billion of taxpayers’ money.

Ms Fabiani said:
“Elections to health boards are a crucial step in improving public confidence in the decision making process of health boards.

“We have experienced at first hand here in East Kilbride the issues that are raised when local people feel they are not part of this process and their wishes are overridden by considerations that do not have the full support of the community.

“When Hairmyres Hospital was forced into a fight with Monklands General for the retention of its A & E depart. We witnessed directly the rule of bureaucracy over the wishes of the majority of the people and the type of services they wanted the NHS to provide locally.

“In the end it was people power that won but the voice of the public should have been listened to much sooner and the Bill just passed should ensure that the publics voice is heard more prominently in the future and the best way of achieving this is by actively involving them at the ballot box and in the boardroom.”

The Bill will ensure that:

Elected members – including local authority representatives and those directly elected by the public – will form a majority of health board members. A chair and other members will be appointed by Ministers, as at present

Pilot elections will be held and independently evaluated before any decision on further rollout is taken by Parliament
Elections will be on a proportional representation (Single Transferable Vote) basis. A single ward will cover the whole health board area

The voting age in health board elections will be lowered to 16

Elections could take place as soon as next year in two pilot NHS boards, which are yet to be confirmed.
Elected members will replace a number of the members on each board currently appointed by Ministers.
It is anticipated that the first pilots will get underway in 2010 and last for at least two years in order that the impact of direct elections can be properly tested and independently evaluated before Parliament is asked to take a decision on the roll out of elections to other health boards.