Health managers are to be held to account in public and in front of Scottish ministers under radical plans to bring more openness to the NHS.
Health managers are to be held to account in public and in front of Scottish ministers under radical plans to bring more openness to the NHS.
Patients and members of the public will for the first time be able to submit questions to the annual round of meetings used to scrutinise the performance of the nation's health authorities. The boards will have to publish all queries and their responses, except where there are issues of patient confidentiality.
Campaigners yesterday welcomed the move as a step towards greater democracy and transparency in the health service.
Dr Robert Cumming, chairman of the Scottish Health Campaigns Network, which unites groups fighting hospital service closures, said: "I think this is an excellent idea. This is going some way towards the democratisation of health boards."
All health boards in Scotland are subjected to an annual showdown with health department officials when common problems such as waiting times and hospital infections are discussed along with local issues.
One of the first moves of the last health minister, Andy Kerr, was to announce these meetings would be held in public and he would chair them.
However, until now, members of the audience have not been able to participate. This summer each board has been asked to invite the public to submit questions ahead of their review.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "These meetings will provide opportunities to question the key decision-makers, who are delivering health services in local communities and, for the first time, members of the public will be invited to submit questions for a question-and-answer session at the end of the review meeting.
"As well as highlighting success and giving credit where credit is due to NHS staff who deserve enormous praise for their work, I want these annual reviews to tackle the tough issues, scrutinise local performance and drive forward further improvement."
Dates for the review meetings are expected to be announced today. Publicity before each one should inform people how to participate. Anyone who wants to submit a question will be told to send it to the Scottish Health Council, which monitors how boards consult the public.
As long as there is no issue of patient confidentiality, the question will be published in the document bundle presented at the review.
There will be a 15-minute slot during the meeting for the board and a minister to discuss this list of questions and the full list, plus answers, will appear on the health board's website.
The Golden Jubilee National Hospital, which handles waiting-list work in Clydebank, yesterday invited queries for its review meeting on Thursday, August 23.
Jill Young, chief executive of its National Waiting Times Centre, said: "We are extremely pleased that our patients and members of the public have the opportunity to ask questions in advance of our annual review. It is only by listening to our patients and the people using our services that we improve for the future."
Fiona Wardell, of the Scottish Health Council, said: "One of the council's main functions is to report publicly on how well NHS boards are involving the public in decisions about services and we are providing some practical support to the annual review process by receiving the questions from the public and forwarding them to boards.
"We believe that these annual reviews offer a genuine opportunity for members of the public to put their questions directly to the cabinet secretary and to the board, and give boards an opportunity to explain decisions they have taken in an open and transparent way."
