Some Good News

After all the gloom in the blogosphere, I thought it was time to have some good news for a change. John Winton, who is part of our campaign network and who was running in the health board elections in Fife, won a seat. Not only that, but he was the first to reach the quota (after 35 counts, dear God.) This means that there is now at least one honest person on Fife Health Board.

Here's the list of those who were elected with the count stage they were elected at;


John Winton - Scottish Health Campaign Network 35
Elizabeth Adams -fundraiser for Maggies, Victoria hospital 37
Ann McGovern – leader of Fife council (labour) 51
Peter Adams – UKIP 52
Harry Blyth - councillor who represented Leven (labour)54
Susan Archibald – disability discrimination campaigner 54
Dave Stewart – chairman of NHS Fife’s operation division 54
Jayne Baxter 54
Margaret Harper- worked for Tayside NHS as a nurse; now in clinical governance 54
Ian Lowles- retired consultant 54
Arthur Morris- consultant plastic surgeon 54
Norma Wilson – medical secretary 54

And here's some of those that weren't elected;

John McKenzie Kirkaldy councillor (labour)
Fiona Purdon Glenrothes councillor (labour)
Harry Wills – Lib Dem candidate
Carole Patrick – deputy manager of CVS Fife
Ad Johnson – racial equality service based in Kirkaldy
Antony Payne – chairman of the Ecology centre in Kinghorn
Steven Marwick – son of Tricia Marwick , MSP

So what can be learned from these results and what do they mean for future health elections? I think the following conclusions can be drawn;

1) Belonging to a political party helps, but it is not a shoo in. Being a councillor or a candidate in another election doesnt mean you're going to get a seat on the health board. You need to be well known, as well as have the party rosette. Anne McGovern was the leader of Fife council; she also cared for her husband who had MS and died in 97.

2) Belonging to a campaign group helps, but only if it has a connection with health. John Winton from our group, Elizabeth Adams from Maggies and Susan Archibald who won a famous disability discrimination case got seats. Carole Patrick of Community Voluntary Services, Ad Johnson of the Racial Equality Service in Kirkaldy and Antony Payne of the Ecology Centre, didn't.

3) People like doctors. Two retired consultants, Ian Lowles and Arthur Morris got in. I'm told by my spies that they're good guys.

4) Being someone's relative is not a guarantee of a seat. Steven Marwick, son of Tricia Marwick MSP, didn't get in.

5) The Health board has influence but doesn't have as much in terms of bodies to vote as it thinks it does. None of their candidates made it into the top four, probably due to their crowding the paper with candidates and splitting their vote.

6) Crowding the paper with candidates doesn't work for either politicians or the health board. Politicos should take note of Peter Adams the UKIP candidate. He won a seat, because his vote was united. Labour and the health board lost seats, because they put in too many candidates and split their vote.

So what Fife have ended up with is a pretty eclectic bunch from all areas of the health and political spectrum. There's a fair balance between users, campaigners, professionals, politicos and management. That's actually how it should be. This is actually an election with a level playing field and I think NHS Fife will be much better as a result. It will mean that the flow of information will improve to all these sectors of health and that the health board will no longer have the ability to slap 'commercial confidentiality' on PFI projects and the like.

What of the turn out? 13.9% in Fife; 22% in Dumfries and Galloway. Slightly disappointing, but it was a trial run, with a huge ballot paper (60 candidates in Fife, 70 in Dumfries and Galloway). I can see the ballot papers getting smaller and the vote getting bigger as people get used to it.

Anyway, congratulations John. I'm sure there was a universal groan from the health board management when they heard the result and that's how it should be. Go gettem..

Vote John Winton for NHS Fife

The first ever Health Board elections are running in NHS Fife at the mo. It's going to be very interesting to see how this turns out. The ballot is a postal one, rather than polling booths. The papers were sent out three weeks ago and they have to be returned by 4pm on the 10th June. There are 61 candidates for 12 seats and it's being done on the single transferable vote.

It's gratifying that there's been so much interest. But a quick check down the candidates reveals a good number of ex councillors and health board members. Now I know the sceptics amongst you are going to say that this was bound to happen and so it was. But there is a value to this. People other than councillors and health board afficianados can apply and get voted in by the public. The previous system was that all the candidates for the health board were ex councillors and health board afficianados, and they were appointed. Jo Bloggs didn't get a look in, so this is an improvement.

So who should you vote for in NHS Fife? There's only one man for the job and that's John Winton. John has been the conscience of NHS Fife for the past seven years. He is part of the Local Health Concern group and has harried the board over several issues, esp over the slippage on the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at the Queen Margaret in Dunfermline. NHS Fife hasn't had its troubles to seek recently; the A&E at the Victoria in Kirkaldy has gone part time due to a shortage of doctors, something they were warned about months ago. It was also one of the three health boards caught up in the Stracathro fiasco, an independent treatment centre that took £15 million for a set number of hip and knee replacement operations, and then said that it wasn't going to operate on anyone who was a risk. As most people receiving such replacements are over 65, it meant that at times occupancy was running at only 50%. This has now been claimed back by the NHS and its future is still to be decided.

John is part of the Scottish Health Campaign Network and is genuinely independent. He knows what the issues are and what he's talking about. More importantly, he knows what the solutions are. If you don't want to vote for a placeman, vote for John and I can assure you that he will get his teeth into the job (and into anyone that needs it).