Healthy for democracy or a political placebo?

(Published as a letter in today's Courier.)

George McLennan justifies the forthcoming election of lay members to the NHS Fife Board on the basis that this will enhance public accountability, as compared to the current system largely comprising of health professionals and administrators.

Of course, the theory is commendable but what will happen in practice?

The most obvious comparison — councillors elected to local authorities — does not augur well.

Very often their function seems to consist largely of rubber stamping the decisions of officials, with any dissent confined to political bickering between the party tribes.

But when all is said and done, the party badge and ideological stance seem largely irrelevant.

Indeed, in recent months both Angus and Dundee City Councils have been criticised by Audit Scotland for the lack of scrutiny from councillors and Tayside Police Board also received adverse criticism from auditors, who claimed that members did not fully understand their role and that scrutiny was weak.

With some irony, board members responded by saying that the audit was not well done and Councillor Bob Myles said, “If things are going right, then why should we be criticising them.”

This seems to miss the point, which is that councillors performing their scrutiny role should not take things at face value.

Let us hope that the new health board members do more than provide a veneer of accountability and exist for something other than the personal kudos and remuneration.