Petition launched against Borders merger

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

The virtually 100 per cent hostile reaction to proposals which would see the formation of a single public authority for the Scottish Borders has been followed by the launch of a petition seeking to preserve the independence of NHS Borders.

As reported previously, Conservative and Independent members of Scottish Borders Council last week voted in favour of the merger of the region's local government and health services partly because of alleged financial difficulties.

But the vote provoked anger among the Borders public with many of them taking to social media to denounce and roundly criticise the idea. It was claimed SBC was incapable of doing its own job without trying to run hospitals, primary care and other sections of the NHS locally.

The recently launched petition can be found on the Change.org website. It has been set up by Robbie Pennington, from Kelso, who worked as a charge nurse and ward manager in NHS Borders.

The petition, headed  Preserve the independence of NHS Borders goes on to state:

"The culture and values of NHS Borders are very different from those of a local authority. It is those values that put patients first and that are vital to providing responsive, timely and appropriate care. These values would be destroyed by a merger with Scottish Borders Council. The proposed merger of SBC and NHS Borders could literally cost you your health."

According to a council source almost all of the 34 elected members were unaware the possible merger was under consideration until 24 hours before last week's meeting of SBC. The motion to take the idea forward was passed by 18 votes to 10 with SNP councillors and a small number of Independents voting against.

It has emerged since that many senior staff members at NHS Borders were also "in the dark" and had not heard of the controversial plans until they appeared in local newspapers and on radio. The board of NHS Borders has yet to say whether it will back the council's blueprint.

Supporters of the merger say it is the only way to preserve the identity of the Scottish Borders and keep it out of the clutches of Edinburgh. A successful campaign was waged more than 20 years ago after the then Scottish Office - controlled by Westminster - proposed a reorganisation of local government with a single council covering Fife, the Lothians, the Borders and the capital city.

The proposal was eventually ditched in the face of strong opposition, particularly from the Borders. Instead Scottish Borders Council was formed in 1996.

But the Scottish Borders is now part of the Edinburgh city deal, a joint initiative by the UK Government and Holyrood to kick start the regional economy. Critics of that deal maintain Edinburgh will get the lion's share of the financial investment while the Scottish Borders will have to content itself with crumbs.