NHS Borders boss John Raine has refuted claims the council is set to ‘take over’ the health board.

Whilst being quizzed at Holyrood on Tuesday he was asked by local MSP Christine Grahame (SNP): “Joint working with the council I understand – can you just confirm for the record this does not mean Borders Council running NHS Borders or the BGH? Because that’s what scared people.”

He replied: “Absolutely not. There’s no takeover by the council in health – the NHS brand is sacrosanct.”

In September SBC’s corporate policy advisor Michael Cook tabled proposals to merge the two authorities.

And a week later elected members agreed that a paper outlining the plans should be sent to Holyrood for consideration.

But that decision was met with anger and former charge nurse, Robbie Pennington, launched a petition calling on the Scottish Government to throw out the idea.

Almost 600 people have signed it online.

However, Scottish Borders Council insisted there were no plans on the table for the local authority to take over the health board.

SBC told us this week: “There have never been any plans for the council to ‘take over’ NHS Borders nor any proposals which undermine the NHS brand.

“What is on the table is a proposal to look at a much greater degree of integration to drive better outcomes for people in the Scottish Borders.

“That remains at the core of our response to the Local Governance review.

“The Scottish Government and CoSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) are yet to conclude the review and the council remains committed to exploring a single public authority as a means of delivering the improvements that our citizens and communities expect.”