Listen
Health board election pilots
16/06/2009
NHS Fife and NHS Dumfries and Galloway will pilot the first ever direct elections to health boards, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced today.
For the first time members of the public will be able to stand for and vote in elections which will see elected members - including council representatives - form a majority on the health board.
Also in a Scottish and UK first, 16 and 17 year-olds will have the right to stand and vote in a UK election.
The Cabinet Secretary revealed that alongside this NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian will run two non-statutory pilots which will test ways in which we can improve the existing engagement and involvement mechanisms between the public and the NHS.
Ms Sturgeon said:
"With the selection of Fife and Dumfries and Galloway as pilot boards, we have taken a further step towards the first ever direct elections to Scottish health boards.
"This is designed to ensure that the views of local people about the NHS services they pay for can no longer be ignored.
"This approach reflects the ideals laid out in the publication 'Better Health, Better Care' for a mutual NHS.
"I am confident the people of Fife and Dumfries and Galloway will welcome this chance to be at the heart of healthcare decisions and their examples could set the pattern for the whole of Scotland."
The selection of the pilots follows the Scottish Parliament's unanimous passing of the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) Bill in March, which recently received Royal Assent. The choice of Fife and Dumfries and Galloway is designed to ensure that the pilots can test the full range of issues likely to be encountered by a health board in both predominantly urban and rural settings.
Elections will take place in Spring 2010 and run for at least two years before an independent evaluation. The elections will be carried out as all-postal ballots, along similar lines to elections to Scotland's National Park Authorities, with votes cast on a Single Transferable Vote basis to make sure every vote cast counts.