Health and Community Care Committee, 08 Sep 1999

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 8, 1999

Official Report 245KB pdf

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Lothian Health

Our final agenda item is the invitation to the committee from Lothian Health to have a meeting with its representatives and talk through some of the issues currently affecting health boards.

To explain the background to this invitation, I am not only the convener of this committee, but the Edinburgh West MSP, and I discuss a range of issues with Lothian Health. We all end up reading the Edinburgh Evening News, whether we like it or not, because we hear what Lothian Health is up to no matter what part of Scotland we are from. I pointed out to Lothian Health's representatives that their organisation has been under scrutiny more than any other in health care.

They felt that a wider briefing on how health boards work and what the crucial areas are might be useful for the committee. They said that they would be happy to have a meeting with the committees on those wider issues, given that they are close at hand. How does the committee feel about that?

I have a particular problem with that. We are representing the whole of Scotland and have civil servants who are quite able to tell us how health boards, local health care co-operatives and trusts operate. If we want to provide an appropriate service to the people of Scotland, we must be independent. We would lose that independence if we took advice from one particular health board, and I do not approve of that.

I would see taking advice from one health board in the same way as taking advice from all sorts of organisations. I spent the summer meeting about 30 or 40 health groups. I have listened to all of them. That does not mean that I shut out what others are saying just because I have listened to one.

It is about perceptions as well.

The invitation is there; it is in good faith. I do not think that they are saying that they have first call on resources or anything like that—quite the opposite, given our previous conversation.

I concur with Margaret on this. I do not think that it is appropriate if one health board invites itself along, although I know that it has been done with all the best will in the world. We have all been at briefings from the local health boards in our constituencies, and in other constituencies for those of us who are health spokespersons. It is important to maintain the balance—we are here for all the people of Scotland. Where would it end: Edinburgh this week, Glasgow the next week? We are on a tight schedule anyway.

Is that the general feeling of the committee? If that is the general feeling—

I have my hand up, Margaret. I agree as far as the time scale is concerned, but this point connects with what we were saying before. Part of our job is to hold health boards to account and to ensure that they are delivering the priorities on health inequalities. We will be examining that issue at some point, and it may be appropriate to meet the board as part of our monitoring of the effectiveness of health boards in implementing the strategic priority on health inequalities. It may be easier to put our response in that context, rather that saying that we will never talk to them again.

I am sure that they will take it in the manner in which it is meant.

I will bring the committee's proceedings to a close at this point. I would like, however, to have a word afterwards with party spokespeople on a procedural issue which the clerk has brought up with me. I will also attempt, as will some of the rest of us, to speak to some of the members of the public not only in the gallery behind me but in the one to my right. Could those members of the public who wish to speak to us please make that known to the security guard. As many of us as possible will also try to speak to the representatives of Stracathro hospital who are present.

I thank the members of the public for their attendance and thank committee members for their attendance and contributions.

Meeting closed at 12:24.