A regional daily editor has suggested health trust boards could be covered by a scheme similar to the local democracy reporting service run by the industry and the BBC.

Newsquest Cumbria group editor Vanessa Sims has touted the idea during a panel debate at an industry conference, at which the taxpayer-funded scheme, which has funded 150 reporters to cover local authorities across the country, was discussed.

The idea of extending schemes of that type to cover public bodies such as health trusts was previously proposed by regional publishers in a joint submission to the Cairncross Review into the future of journalism last year.

During the discussion at the Behind Local News conference in Birmingham today, Vanessa and a panel of fellow regional editors and reporters were quizzed on how they had found the LDR scheme so far.

She said: “It’s given us more of a chance to take a more in-depth look at politics.  I got an email from a local councillor yesterday thanking me for the coverage we’ve been doing and for raising local issues.”

Vanessa, pictured, added: “Is there a possibility of looking at other sectors such as health? How many trust board meetings go on all day that we can’t hold to account at the moment?”

Anna Jeys, senior editor at Birmingham Live, explained how publisher Reach employs six local democracy reporters across the West Midlands at present.

She said: “For us to be able to be in almost every council meeting and to be able to cover things which are really important to local communities,t’s been interesting to see how much that content is shared [on social media].

“it’s been an incredible addition and a really interesting learning curve.”