Kevan Lim

With all the anger over MP’s expenses their is a tendency for lots of people on phone in programmes and television shows to claim the simple solution is to have more independents elected. The assumption seems to be that being an independent will mean that you have all the answers.

Yet we already have plenty of evidence of how an independent system can fail to deliver real accountability.

The current evening star campaign against the changes to heart attack services is a prime example of decisions being taken by so called independents with little understanding or concern about the implications or the public reaction to such decisions.

The health service now in the East of England is run by a so called independent arrangement. Members of the Strategic Health Authority and the board at Ipswich Hospital are all appointed by the appointments commission. Its so called independence means that in Ipswich for example we have a board with a chairman who does not even live in Suffolk and a board with no local Ipswich representation. Their are no local councillors of any party on the board.

Its little wonder that decisions like the transferring of heart attack services take place.

The creation of an independent culture doesn’t lead to greater accountability. I have never been in favour of the separation of health from local government.

Most of this separation has ironically happened because of demands to loosen day to day management of the health service from control by Government.

The reality is that as you create more impendent arrangements you actually divorce local councillors and other public representives from control of key local services leading to control by appointed independents who have accountability to no one and often little understanding of the needs or demands of the population they are actually supposed to be serving.

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