THE Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport has announced the reappointment of the Chair of Borders NHS Board, Mr John Raine.

The NHS is one of our nation’s biggest and most important public services. Each day thousands of Scots depend on it for treatment and care.

Each day it saves hundreds of lives. More than 135,000 dedicated and skilled staff work for NHS Scotland which is the nation’s biggest employer.

NHS Borders is responsible for meeting the health needs of around 116,000 people living in the Borders area MR Raine brings to the board experience of holding non-executive positions with the NHS, including chairmanships, since 1998. In a 25 year local government career he was, for nine years, Chief Executive of Derbyshire County Council.

He was appointed Chairman of the Hearing Aid Council, a government regulatory body, from 1997 to 2003 and served six years as Chair of Derbyshire Probation Board and represented boards nationally for three years as the elected Chairman of the Probation Boards` Association for England and Wales.

In the voluntary sector, John chaired for seven years the Derbyshire Association for Blind People and also a charity providing residential outdoor activities for young people. He was appointed to the Board of Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital in 1998 and was acting chairman before being appointed chairman of NHS Derbyshire County.

After moving to the Borders, John was appointed by Scottish Borders Council as independent chair for child protection. In an earlier career in journalism John worked for daily and evening newspapers and, as a freelance agency reporter, for national media.

He moved from journalism to public relations in industry prior to his local government career.

In light of this announcement Mr Raine said: “I am delighted to be offered a further term of appointment and consider it a real privilege to be able to continue to lead our NHS Board as we endeavour to improve services for Borders people. Over the past four years I have been so impressed by the quality and commitment of our NHS staff, and of the Board itself. I am therefore confident that the organisation is well placed to meet the many challenges that we face.”