THE new chief officer of Herefordshire Community Health Council is Euan McPherson, appointed to the post just before Christmas.
He takes over from former chief Sue Clarke who resigned from the job after nearly five years to move with her family, to Germany.
The CHC is popularly known as the NHS or public health watchdog, looking after the interests of local people and ensuring their views are made known.
The Government has decided to abolish such organisations from March 2003, to replace them with new structures to represent public and patient involvement.
Mr McPherson, who has been development officer with Herefordshire CHC for the last three years describes the coming 18 months as challenging and exciting.
"It will be a very busy time and I am keen to ensure that HCHC members and officers continue to represent the best interests of the Herefordshire public in the local NHS'', he said.
Mr McPherson confirmed there was more work to be done on the new structures to replace CHCs, with detailed guidance still to come from the Government.
He was confident NHS trusts in Herefordshire wanted to have effective processes in place for gaining patient and public feedback and that his council would play an active role in setting up the new structures through the experience of its members and officers.
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