A FORMER council leader has been appointed chairman of East Lancashire Health Authority - spearheading health care for more than half a million people.

Coun Kath Reade (pictured), 51, of Burnley Council takes over from retiring chairman Bill Ashworth, who is standing down after six years in the £17,600-a-year post.

Her appointment, by Health Secretary Alan Milburn, takes effect on April 1 for three years.

She will head the Nelson-based organisation with a £320million-a-year budget commissioning health services, from GP care to hospital treatment, throughout the area.

The guitar-strumming Burnley mum adds the position to her role as health spokesman on the the powerful new North West Development Agency.

She will stand down as a £5,000-a-year non-executive director of Burnley Health NHS Trust, a post she has held for the past two years.

Mrs Reade today said she was delighted and honoured to have been appointed chairman of the health authority.

Former college lecturer, Coun Reade was raised in London, moved to Manchester in the early 1970s and has lived in Burnley for more than 25 years.

She has been a Labour councillor in Burnley for 13 years and was appointed the council's first woman leader in 1994, a position she held until beaten in an internal election challenge two years' ago.

She recently announced she will stand down as a representative for the town's Trinity ward at the end of her term of office in May to concentrate on health matters. She is presently spearheading the Development Agency's North West Health Partnership, a multi-agency body which will guide the way to better future health care in the region.

The singer/songwriter was a fund-raiser for a children's charity and a social worker before moving into higher education.

She holds a degree in social sciences and an MA in Women's Studies.

She is a former governor of Burnley College and a director of East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council.

She takes over the top health role from retired Burnley District Judge Mr Ashworth, 70, who has been chairman since the creation of the health authority.

He received a CBE in last year's Queen's Birthday Honours.

Coun Reade's appointment follows months of speculation over possible successors.

It is understood that also shortlisted were Malcolm Doherty, leader of Blackburn Council and Pauline Walsh, of Age Concern,

Interviews for the post took place in December.

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