26 October 2007
The Scottish Executive plans to set up a national panel of experts to scrutinise major changes in the NHS.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon this week published a consultation paper setting out plans for the independent scrutiny of proposals involving changes to frontline care, such as hospital closures.
Responsibility for decision-making and accountability would still rest with health boards and ministers, she said. Sturgeon added: 'I want to see a process that will probe any proposals for change while taking into account that the NHS is a public service used by and paid for by the public and as such their opinion is important.
'Health boards must also show that they have considered clinical quality, sustainability, patient safety, high-quality standards of care and value for money.'
The health secretary said independent scrutiny would help ensure a balance between clinical standards, financial performance and public opinion.
The consultation paper follows a period in which proposed changes to hospital provision, such as the closure of accident and emergency departments, have caused controversy in Scotland.
The paper sets out options for a system in which proposals for major NHS changes would be independently scrutinised before a final decision.
The preferred option is a panel that would include experts with clinical, financial and public consumer backgrounds but with a lay (non-clinical) majority and a lay chair.
PFoct2007
