The sixth year, 1968: pending centralization of the health services in Scotland leads to fear of bureaucratization

The sixth year began with a feeling of optimism. We enjoyed very positive support from the three university departments in Edinburgh, and Dr Brotherston, the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, gave us increasingly active support and encouragement . Several times he visited us during the year and recognized the significance of our pilot project as an example of an integrated health service for the Borders. He was largely responsible for the Green Paper, Administrative Reorganization of the Scottish Health Services , issued by the Scottish Home and Health Department (1968 ) and which epitomized on a national scale what we were trying to do in a minor way in the Borders.