§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amoryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now announce details of the appointment and reappointment of chairmen of district health authorities from 1 April.
§ Mr. HayhoeDistrict health authorities were established in 1982 as part of the reorganisation of the health service. Chairmen of these authorities were appointed for a four-year term. Following a number of vacancies in the interim, the terms of office of 170 chairmen expire on 31 March 1986.
In considering appointments and reappointments an important aim has been to bring in younger people as chairmen and to build on the improvements that have been made in the NHS in recent years, by appointing individuals with good management experience.
The process of considering the appointments has now been completed. 108 of the present chairmen are being reappointed. Of those chairmen who are retiring, a half are aged 65 or over, while a third resigned or indicated they did not wish to be reconsidered. The average age of the new chairmen now being appointed is 54—compared with 62, the average age of retiring chairmen. 18 of the new chairmen are already members of regional or district health authorities.
On this occasion some chairmen are being offered a two-year appointment instead of four to ensure that in future the reappointment exercise is phased. There is no significance between a two or four year term and all chairmen will be eligible for four year appointments in 1988.
Chairmen play a vital part in providing leadership to health authorities and in translating national policies into local action. My right hon. Friend and I are very grateful to all of them for their hard work and dedication over the past four years. I have placed a list of the new chairmen and their terms of office in the Library.