This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New appointment to Mental Welfare Commission
16/12/2002
A new part-time commissioner has been appointed to the
Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
This appointment is for four years and was made by Her
Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the First
Minister, Jack McConnell.
Dr Gina Netto (42) has been appointed part-time
Commissioner (With Special Interest in Minority Ethnic
Issues). She is Director of Scottish Ethnic Minorities
Research Unit (SEMRU) based at Heriot-Watt University.
The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWC)
protects mentally disordered people who cannot look after
their own interests. It inquires into cases of alleged ill
treatment or deficiency of care or treatment and visits
patients in hospital or subject to guardianship orders. The
Commission has statutory duties under the Mental Health
(Scotland) Act 1984 and the Adults with Incapacity
(Scotland) Act 2000.
Dr Netto is not involved in any political activity and
has never held any other ministerial appointment. This
appointment started on 1 November 2002. Part-time
Commissioners are paid a salary of £2000 per year for 15
days annual commitment plus £183 for each additional day
worked.
Welcoming her appointment, Minister for Health and
Community Care, Malcolm Chisholm, said:
"The new appointee brings valuable professional
experience and expertise to this post with the Mental
Welfare Commission. I am sure this will assist the
Commission with growing volume and diversity of its
work.
"I would like to wish Dr Netto well in her new
role."
The MWC is an independent statutory body, first
established under the provisions of the Mental Health
(Scotland) Act 1960. The current statutory provisions
conferring the MWC's constitution and membership are
contained in the 1984 Act. Members, including the Chairman,
are appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of the
First Minister.
The MWC has 22 Commissioners, 17 of which are part-time.
Membership is currently drawn from the fields of
psychiatry, general practice, social work, nursing,
clinical psychology, law, voluntary sector, accountancy,
occupational therapy, minority ethnic interest, and service
user representation. Part-time Commissioners are expected
to devote around 22 to 24 days a year to the work of the
Commission.
Dr. Netto replaces Dr. Shainool Jiwa, the previous post
holder who stepped down in March 2002. Dr. Netto has led
and contributed to a wide range of policy-oriented research
projects related to minority ethnic issues in the areas of
mental health, social care and disability. She has been
actively involved in the field of race equality through her
work with voluntary organisations and is currently on the
Steering Group for the National Resource Centre for Ethnic
Minority Health. Dr. Netto is from Malaysia. She first came
to Scotland in 1990 to undertake an MSc in Applied
Linguistics and completed her PhD in 1995 at the University
of Edinburgh. She subsequently joined the Scottish Ethnic
Minorities Research Unit and was promoted to her current
post of Director in August 2001. Based at Heriot Watt
University, Dr. Netto's research on minority ethnic issues
and race equality themes has been widely published.