THE END OF THE REGIONS?

Denmark's middle tier of administration, the five regions, have only existed since the beginning of 2007 (see my earlier post for details). Their basic role is to run the country's hospital system, though they report to elected politicians. Over 200 of them, more than in the Folketing (Parliament).

Since four of the five regions are run by opposition parties, this has obviously irritated the Goverment. So today they announced that if they win the forthcoming general election, then the regions will be abolished, and replaced by three big hospital boards, made up of (unelected) healthcare experts. Any savings realised from not paying expensive politicians will be ploughed back into services.

The most interesting aspect of this proposal is that the regions were the brainchild of Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, in his then role of Health and Interior Minister. Ministers are normally reluctant to ditch their pet projects, particularly when they haven't been going long. He must be seriously irritated.

Having more regional than national politicians is a bit odd. Having said that, healthcare is not just something that affects every single citizen at some point in their lives, but is also intensely political. So it's probably a good thing if there is some political oversight of it. Initial reactions suggest that voters think so too; so perhaps it's too early to write the regions off.   

Walter Blotscher