News In Focus
1 February 2007
MSPs say no to health board elections
MSPs have rejected a plan for directly elected health boards.
The Health Board Elections (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Labour backbencher Bill Butler, would have allowed voters to choose who controlled local NHS services. It was opposed by the Scottish Executive as ministers feared it would paralyse hospital reform, but its general principles were supported by Holyrood’s Health Committee, albeit with qualifications.
Yesterday the bill was defeated after its stage 1 debate by 64 votes to 55. Only two other Labour members voted against the Executive.
Mr Butler claimed the bill would give local communities more of a say in the way their NHS services were run and would end the widely-held belief that many health board decisions were "made in secret with little or no explanation, are often predetermined and often ignore the views of the community and the responses that have been made to the board's consultation processes".
The Health Minister Andy Kerr said the Executive would be looking at pilot schemes for health board elections, taking into account the issues raised by the Health Committee in its report.