Fears About Confidentiality of the Ballot

As the ballot of senior medical staff reaches its final day tomorrow I have been talking to colleagues and urging them to vote. The ballot closes at 5pm so if you have not voted take your envelope to the Postgraduate Centre in person please.

There clearly are concerns about confidentiality. I must emphasise that the ballot papers must be numbered so we can prove to the independent referee that nobody has voted twice. We can tell who has voted but assuming everybody puts their ballot papers in sealed envelopes with numbers on the outside we simply tick off the list that they have voted and do not open the envelopes.

The count will be held at the Afro-Caribbean Millennium Centre on Thursday 21st June at 11am. The independent referee is Mr. Darren Wright the Principal Officer of Birmingham City Council Health Scrutiny Committee. The Trust have been invited to send a representative but they have declined. The list of names will be sealed away before the envelopes are opened and I will store them safely just in case an independent review were demanded. I would ensure that no member of Trust management ever had sight of these lists.