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1 Acting Director-General Health & Social Care and Chief Executive NHS Scotland abcdefghijklmnopqrstu Derek Feeley T: F: E: Chief Executive, NHS Boards Chief Executive, Special Health Boards Copy to: Chief Executive, The Commission for the Regulation of Care The Director, The Mental Welfare Commission 21 February 2011 Dear Colleague SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION: GUIDANCE FOR NHS BOARDS AND SPECIAL HEALTH BOARDS The attached annex provides guidance for NHS Boards and Special Health Boards (for the purposes of this note, collectively referred to as NHS Boards ) on the conduct of business during the Scottish Parliament election period. In particular, it provides guidance on dealing with the media and parliamentary candidates. NHS Boards should issue prompt guidance to all non-executive members and staff taking account of the guidance contained in the annex to enable them to take any appropriate action in relation to their personal conduct or in responding to enquiries from the media or parliamentary candidates. Yours faithfully DEREK FEELEY

2 ANNEX SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION 2011: GUIDANCE FOR NHS BOARDS AND SPECIAL HEALTH BOARDS Summary 1. This note contains guidance for NHS Boards and Special Health Boards, including the Common Services Agency, (for the purposes of this note, collectively referred to as NHS Boards ) about their role and conduct during the Scottish Parliamentary Election campaign. The election will take place on Thursday 5 May 2011 and this guidance comes into force with immediate effect from when the election period begins on 23 March. The election period means the period between the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament and the elections on 5 May. 2. This guidance sets out the general principles which NHSScotland bodies should observe, and the arrangements which are being put in place to consider the application of those principles to particular cases in the event of any uncertainty or difficulties which may arise. As the campaign will take place across Scotland, it is particularly important that all public bodies, including NHSScotland, should take special care during this period to ensure that their conduct is above question. 3. During the election period, NHS Boards may be faced with requests for information and views from media representatives, parliamentary candidates, and from representatives of political organisations about the activities of the NHS. They must seek to prevent any grounds for complaint that they are behaving partially towards any of the candidates or parties represented in the election. 4. It is also possible that some employees, Chairs or non-executives of NHS Boards may be selected as potential candidates for the Scottish Parliament. This note also contains guidance on what action they should take in those circumstances. General Principles 5. Board meetings of NHS Boards, including those normally held in public, scheduled to take place during the election period may proceed as planned. The following general principles should be observed by all NHS Boards: I. There should be even-handedness in meeting requests for factual information from individual candidates and those from different political parties. Such requests and responses should be handled in accordance with the principles laid down in the Standards of Conduct, Accountability and Openness of NHSScotland and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act II. Care should be taken over announcements of decisions made by NHS Boards to avoid accusations of political controversy of partisanship. Each case should be considered on its merits and any cases of doubt should be referred to the Scottish Government Health Directorates for advice. III. Care should also be taken in respect of paid publicity campaigns which should not be open to criticism that they are being undertaken for party political purposes. Care should be taken in relation to any publications

3 planned by any NHS organisation during the pre-election period; for example pieces of research which may be open to political interpretation. Boards should consider each case and refer any doubts to the Scottish Government Health Directorates. IV. Existing advertising campaigns will be closed and there should be a general presumption against undertaking new campaigns unless agreement has been reached in advance with the Scottish Government Health Directorates. V. In carrying out their day to day work NHS Boards should ensure that they do nothing that could reasonably be construed as politically motivated. VI. It is vital that staff of NHS Boards exercise care in their day to day corporate activities to ensure that they do nothing that could reasonably be regarded as taking a political stance. VII. Public resources should not be used for party political purposes. 6. In particular, any announcements which are made should meet the following criteria: I. be relevant to NHSScotland responsibilities; II. be objective and explanatory; III. not be, or be liable to misrepresentation as being, party political; IV. be conducted in an economic and appropriate way, having regard to the need to be able to justify the costs as expenditure of public funds. Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 remains in full force during the election period. NHS Boards should continue to respond to FOI requests in accordance with the procedures established for such requests. Care is needed to ensure that FOI procedures have been followed appropriately. The Scottish Government Health Directorates should be consulted in advance of responding to requests which are thought likely to impact on the election campaign in any way. Dealing with Enquiries and Correspondence from Political Parties and Parliamentary Candidates 8. NHS Boards should provide any candidate, organisation or any member of the public with purely factual information in accordance with the Standards of Conduct, Accountability and Openness of NHSScotland. Requests for information will range from enquiries about existing Government or NHS Board policies, which are essentially factual in nature, to requests for justification and comment on existing policies. Where a request requires a simple account of what the policy is on a particular matter, it should be dealt with in the same way as requests for factual information. NHS Boards should deal with such straightforward enquiries directed to them, referring doubtful cases to the Scottish Government Health Directorates for advice. Requests from or on behalf of candidates should be regarded as especially urgent the aim should be to respond within one working day. Any requests for justification or comment on existing national policies should be declined.

4 9. Where the correspondence or enquiry concerns policies newly announced in a Party Manifesto or where it calls for a comparison with the policies of different parties, it will be appropriate to refer the correspondence or direct the caller immediately to the relevant Party Headquarters. 10. All candidates should have access to the same information, but it is not necessary to circulate information every time a query is answered. NHS Boards will want to review their procedures for the routine issuing of news releases to ensure that all parliamentary candidates receive the same information. Media Enquiries 11. Media enquiries about the operation of health services should be answered only to the extent of providing factual explanation of current NHS Board policy, statements and decisions in accordance with the Standards of Conduct, Accountability and Openness of NHSScotland. Particular care must be taken not to become involved in a partisan way in election issues. 12. It is important that NHS Boards establish clear procedures locally so that a consistent approach is taken on questions from media representatives. Those answering media enquiries should limit their comments to their own areas of responsibility. Enquiries about national policy should be referred to the Scottish Government Communications Team (telephone: ) and questions relating to health proposals of political parties or individuals should be referred to the parliamentary candidate, party office or individual. 13. There is no objection to issuing routine news releases, figures which are published on a monthly or regular basis, or drawing attention to and as necessary summarising reports of specific committees or bodies which a NHS Board is required to publish. 14. In cases of doubt, NHS Boards should refer to the Scottish Government Health Directorates. Official Support to Ministers 15. The Scottish Government Health Directorates will continue to provide support to Ministers in discharging essential official business. In doing so, they may call on the assistance of NHS Boards, as they do under normal circumstances. It is also in order for officials to check statements for factual accuracy and consistency with established Government policy. Officials should not, however, be asked to provide new arguments for use as part of the election campaign. Campaigning and Canvassing on NHSScotland Premises 16. NHS Boards should consider carefully whether to allow: visits by Parliamentary Candidates; personal canvassing; and filming or photography by independent candidates or political parties on NHS premises. 17. It is for individual NHS Boards to decide on whether candidates requests for visits to hospitals or other establishments should be agreed to, but should visits be permitted there

5 should be no disruption to patients treatment or services. If such a request for a visit by a candidate is agreed to, the NHS Board must then notify all other candidates that similar facilities are available to them as well. 18. Political posters should not be displayed on NHS premises. Other posters and advertising material purporting to be apolitical and published by other groups should be carefully scrutinised to ensure that it cannot be regarded as favouring a particular candidate or party. 19. Election or other political meetings should not be held on NHS premises. CONTINUING CONDUCT OF NHSSCOTLAND BUSINESS Use of the Media 20. The normal business of NHSScotland requires many public contacts and much of this can proceed in the normal way. For example existing localised health promotion campaigns may not need to be interrupted, but care should be taken in launching any new initiatives or documents, or mail drops or display advertising (apart from semi-display recruitment advertising, which can continue provided it appears only on classified pages and is limited in style to quarter page or equivalent) in the period up to the election, in order to avoid possible misrepresentation. Printed material should not normally be given any fresh distribution during the election period in order to avoid any competition with the flow of election material. If in doubt, it is best to err on the side of caution. Social Media 21. During the election period NHS Boards pages on social media sites that aim to engage or inform should not be added to, expanded or improved, neither should responses be made to comments posted. The reasons for this should be made clear on the relevant sites/pages. 22. NHSScotland employees participation in a professional capacity in social networks (e.g. (Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn etc.) as well as in forums, online communities and other public online discussions should be limited during the Election period to: Commenting on operational matters relating to services such as notifying users of technical problems with a website or digital service; and Responding to factual queries by signposting existing content. Blogs and Video Blogs 23. There should be no new public facing blogs during the election period. NHS Boards may continue to respond to comments on existing blog posts to provide routine and factual responses to queries and to moderate for inappropriate comments. Twitter 24. NHS Boards use of Twitter may continue for publishing factual information only Advertising 25. The deployment of posters and other high profile publicity should not be launched in the election period lest it divert attention from the election. The normal display of posters on

6 NHS premises may continue, provided this cannot be construed as going beyond existing national and local health policies. Candidacy of Employees of NHSScotland bodies in the United Kingdom General Election 26. Time off during working hours is governed by the provisions of Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and as required by other legislation. A full-time employee who was elected either as Constituency or a List candidate in the Scottish Parliament election would be expected to resign. (The Employment Rights Act 1996 and Sections 3 and 52 of the General Whitley Council Handbook refer.) Other Employees of NHSScotland bodies 27. Employees of NHSScotland bodies are free to engage in public debate or comment during the election period including through the use of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc. However they should not use their official premises or equipment and should not make comments based on information not generally available to public. It must be clearly stated that the views expressed are those of the individual and not of any NHS Board. Chair and other Non-Executive Members 28. Candidates at the election will be required to sign a declaration at the time of lodging nomination papers stating that they are not disqualified from being a member of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2476) sets out many of the office holders who are disqualified. With regards to Health Boards and Special Health Boards the relevant provision is found in Part 1 of the Schedule to that Order and disqualifies from being a member of the Scottish Parliament the: Chairman or any member, not being also an employee, of a Health Board or a Special Health Board constituted under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act and "Chairman or any member, not being also an employee, of the management committee of the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service constituted under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978." 29. As a result, it will be necessary for such members who wish to stand for election to resign prior to their nomination forms being lodged. The position is the same for candidates for return as a constituency member, individual candidates for return as a regional member and candidates on a party s regional list. All must sign a consent stating inter alia that to the best of the candidates knowledge and belief the candidate is not disqualified from being a member of the Scottish Parliament. 30. Nominating officers should establish that their candidates do not hold any disqualifying posts at the time nomination papers are submitted but Chairs and Chief Executives of Scottish health bodies are asked to bring these provisions to the notice of all non-executive members of their respective NHS Boards.

7 Financial Commitments 31. During the election period NHS Boards may proceed within the terms of any legally binding commitments. However, no further decisions should be made or actions taken which are of a continuously binding or long-term character. If, exceptionally, a NHS Board believes it is essential to make such a decision or take such action during the election period, it must seek the Scottish Government Health Directorates advice before doing so. Care should be taken over the announcement of any decisions made. 32. For capital projects, where a Criteria Submission or a Full Business Case is approved by the Health Directorates before 23 March 2011, the NHS Board will be free to proceed to contract close in accordance with a timetable set to suit the NHS organisation and its partner and one that is not influenced by the election provided all of the conditions given in the approval are met. Should any commitment not be met, the approval lapses and contract negotiations cannot proceed to conclusion until such time as the Health Directorates is able to reconsider the Criteria Submission or FBC. NHS Board Meetings 33. NHS Board meetings should continue in the normal way. It would be prudent, however, not to introduce new items which are likely to be the subject of controversy on the agenda at meetings during the election period. Correspondence from Existing MPs and former MSPs 34. Letters to NHS Boards from MPs and those who were MSPs when Parliament was dissolved should be processed as usual. Replies may be made public or the subject of political debate, so they should be as simple as possible to avoid misinterpretation. Contacts with the Scottish Government Health Directorates 35. Generally during the election periods NHS Boards should maintain close contact with the Scottish Government Health Directorates about any developments of potential political or media interest as they arise. 36. Should you require any advice or assistance or to transmit information on any of the issues covered by this Guidance Note, please contact in the first instance the Performance Manager for your Board. 37. If your enquiry relates to media handling issues, please contact the Scottish Government Communications Team. Scottish Government Health Directorates February 2011