Forums for Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Affairs

Following the establishment of a devolved structure for Government in the UK , the Faculty extended its regional representation on the Board by co-opting representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland to join the existing elected Scottish representative. As the differences in approaches to health increase in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Board felt that it became even more important that the Faculty:

Be seen to represent occupational medicine across the entire UK
Be in touch with the differing health and related agendas across the UK
Provide relevant input to the devolved Governments.

For this reason it was believed that it was essential to strengthen the support and links that the representatives on the Board have. The Board therefore agreed to create three separate Forums:

Scottish Affairs Forum
Welsh Affairs Forum
Northern Irish Affairs Forum

Each Forum has the following objectives:

To ensure that the Board Representative represents those practicing occupational medicine in their area.
To provide an opportunity for the representative to debate aspects of Faculty policy and ensure it takes into account requirements of devolved Government.
To provide support to the representative in establishing and developing links with devolved Government.
To provide a mechanism for communication of information between the Board and the Faculty's membership in Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland .
In the case of the Northern Irish Affairs Forum, to assist in strengthening links between our Faculty and the Irish Faculty.

European Affairs Forum

Europe has an increasing influence on the occupational health agenda in the UK as well as the broader practice of medicine. The Faculty already has some well established links, in particular through its representation on UEMS. In spite of this, Europe is still fairly peripheral to our thinking in spite of the fact that many of our members work for European organisations. The Board therefore agreed that we establish a European Affairs Forum with the following objectives:

To provide a focus for discussion and debate on European occupational health issues
To provide a European dimension to the consideration of new Faculty policies and initiatives
To help strengthen links with our European colleagues
To demonstrate the Faculty's interest in and commitment to Europe