Fife Health Board

[tobyaw]

Through the post today I received a voting pack for the election of members to Fife Health Board. There was an instruction sheet, a ballot paper with a freepost envelope for return, and a booklet of statements from the candidates who are standing for election. As far as I can see, there is no explanation of what the Fife Health Board does, or why its members are elected.

There are sixty-one names on the ballot paper, of whom I can select as many as I like, marking them in my order of preference. Twelve of them will be elected. The candidate statement booklet runs to twenty-three pages of anodyne personal histories. I have no idea how one is supposed to make any kind of informed choice.

I suspect the lot of it will go straight in the paper-recycling bin. I wonder how much it cost NHS Fife to run this exercise in pointless democracy.

Comments

Fife Health Board

[(Anonymous)]

The information about what Fife Health Board does and about why it is being elected is all included in a comprehensive booklet that is available on the NHS Fife Health Board Election website at:
http://www.nhsfife.scot.nhs.uk/elections/

James Gilmour
Edinburgh

Re: Fife Health Board

[tobyaw]

I had a look at that. It was as clear as mud. The board meets every two months, and is responsible for "leading and directing healthcare services in Fife, ensuring that national policies are delivered locally in an efficient, effective and responsive manner." In doing this, it receives reports, some of them from other committees.

Does it actually have any power? Can it change anything? Would NHS Fife stop delivering healthcare if the board didn't exist?

And I couldn't find anything to help me differentiate between the different candidates. Into the recycling bin with the voting paperwork.