Elections To Health Boards Not The Solution To Poor Public Engagement, Says BMA Scotland
"Encouraging greater involvement and promoting effective governance are both laudable aims for the Scottish Government. The BMA supports greater public involvement but remains unconvinced that direct elections to NHS Boards will deliver the desired outcomes.
"The current system that NHS Boards are using to consult is not working, the public is not happy about decisions that are being made and they don't feel that their views are being taken into account. However, whether or not direct elections are introduced, NHS boards will still have a duty to consult the public on service changes and independent scrutiny will take place.
"Instead of looking at unnecessary legislation, the focus of this consultation should be on how Boards can improve their own consultation processes and communicate better with the public rather than the introduction of expensive elections that divert much needed NHS funding away from patient care."
Notes:
- Based on financial estimates for Direct Elections to Health Boards, published as part of the Scottish Parliament's 2006 consideration of similar legislation, the BMA estimates that in its first four years, direct elections to NHS Boards would cost between £1.5m and £3m. There is no evidence that this Bill will improve local public engagement in decisions about their local services and the BMA believes that this money could be better spent on clinical services.
- In England, NHS Foundation Trusts conduct local elections to a Board of Governors. A recent report in the Telegraph (G Wilson "Blair's pledge over flagship hospitals branded a sham", The Telegraph, 15 November 2006) found that "as few as one in 1,500 people were voting in elections for "patient" governors. The Telegraph provided an example from the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology on the Wirral where 1,502 people voted out of a patient population of 2.3 million. As well as organising elections, Foundation Hospitals recruit local people to become "members" but the Telegraph found that again, the record is poor. "Sheffield Children's NHS Trusts has signed up just 1,161 members out of a population of 1.8million. The Queen Victoria Trust in East Grinstead, West Sussex, serves about 4.5 million people but only has 13,000 members.
- In 2007, the BMA published a briefing paper on direct elections to NHS Boards for a parliamentary debate on the subject. This is available online.
The local healthcare bill consultation document is available here.
http://www.bma.org.uk/scotland
Alegeri pentru sãnãtate camerelor Nu soluþia la Poor Publica angajament, spune BMA Scoþia - Elections To Health Boards Not The Solution To Poor Public Engagement, Says BMA Scotland - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate