Norfolk County Council's Health Overview Select Committee has abolished its Link Member system, which previously assigned individual councillors to maintain regular contact with specific NHS trusts and health providers on the committee's behalf.

The decision, made unanimously at the 17 September meeting, means the committee will no longer rely on individual members acting as ongoing liaisons with health bodies. Going forward, the Chair, Cllr Lucy Shires, will report back to the full committee on engagement with providers.

The change follows a Task and Finish Group set up specifically to review how the Link Member arrangement was working. The group's findings were presented to the committee, which agreed the existing model should cease.

The shift gives the full committee collective oversight of provider relationships rather than leaving that role to individual members, which could have meant information was not always shared equally across all councillors.

Separately, the committee also agreed to add several new topics to its forward work programme, including a briefing on Functional Neurological Disorder and its diagnostic pathways, an update on menopause services, and a report on the Right Care, Right Person policing and health approach. A request was also made to refer the issue of transport for children accessing CAMHS and autism services to the Children, Families and Community Select Committee, as it fell outside the health committee's remit.

The committee is next due to meet on 19 November 2026, when the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospital Group is scheduled to present a report. CAMHS and neurodiversity items have been moved to an additional meeting in early December to allow enough time for scrutiny before informing a SEND Plan update in January 2027.