New chairman for health board

COUNCILLOR Kenny John Macleod has been appointed as the new chairman of the Integration Joint Board (IJB), which oversees a range of health and social care services in the Western Isles.

Mr Macleod is also the comhairle’s chairman of communities and housing.

Ian Burgess, a non-executive director from NHS Western Isles and a member of the IJB since its inception, was appointed vice-chairman.

Outgoing chairman of the IJB Neil Galbraith said: ‘The past two years have seen a new era of partnership working and effective decision-making about transforming health and social care services during financially challenging times.

‘Effective partnership arrangements are vital if we are to meet the challenges of providing health and social care services for our communities, whether that be in relation to mental health redesign or the development of new services for frail older people.

‘That partnership has seen a number of key achievements, including reducing the number of people delayed in hospital by two thirds over the past nine months; we have been supporting collaboration between GP practices through a new quality cluster approach, which helps to share best practice in improving patient care; and we have supported more people with disabilities back from mainland placements to live in their own communities.

‘I wish Kenny John every success in building on the work of the past two years.’

Mr Macleod added: ‘We face major challenges – tighter resources, growing demand for services and more complex care. However, these challenges reinforce the importance and value of effective partnership working.’