The Department of Health is encouraging members of the public to apply for six voluntary positions as Members of the newly-restructured and independent Health Services Consultative Committee (HSCC).  The HSCC is a body of nine lay and independent people appointed by the Appointments Commission to support the Department of Health by providing independent scrutiny and advice on the operations, performance and effectiveness of the Health Service.  Members take responsibility for looking at specific areas of Health Services activity, attending Health Service meetings, reviewing documents, offering advice, and highlighting problem areas. Members will report their findings to the HSCC and, through the HSCC, to the Minister for Health and senior officers of the Department as well as submitting an annual report to Tynwald.
 
To ensure that members are independent of the Health Service the members will be appointed by the Appointments Commission and will be appointed for a period of three years. Applicants do not need any formal qualifications, but a positive interest in the performance and delivery of Health Services would be very advantageous. Applicants should not be clinically qualified or be currently, or previously have been, employed in the Health Service.
 
Minister for Health, Hon David Anderson MHK said: “The HSCC is a very valuable body in providing a completely independent and non-clinical assessment of what we do within the Health Service, which is why I’m keen to encourage people to apply for these important voluntary posts.  The views of ordinary members of our community are very valuable to us.  They are just as valuable as the views of our own staff as they are able to be totally impartial and give us a straightforward view of our services in a way we could never achieve otherwise.”
 
Information packs and application forms for the vacancies are available online at www.gov.im/registries/tribunals/vacancies.xml or from Mrs S J D McMullen, Secretary to the Appointments Commission telephone 687562 or email appointments.commission@gov.im.