John has worked in Scottish Government for almost 9 years, previously as Deputy National Clinical Director and now in this role. He focuses on improving the quality of care delivered by NHS Scotland, supporting the senior team responsible for Health and Care.
John is an Emergency Medicine consultant in NHS Lanarkshire and a Scottish Quality and Safety Fellow.
As NHS Scotland Chief People Officer, Fiona works collaboratively with 22 Health Boards, Scottish Government and the wider health and care system, on people agenda and priorities, to support colleagues and enable transformation of services, for the benefit of our population.
Fiona was previously Director of People & Culture at NHS Highland and joined the NHS in 2019, after 20 years working in people, change and leadership roles in the Financial Services and Pharmaceutical R&D sectors. She is passionate about systems leadership, encouraging challenge, valuing difference, promoting kindness and respect and putting people, not processes first.
Alan Young has been editor of The Scotsman since September 2024, having previously worked for more than 20 years in Scottish journalism. As Scotsman editor, he is committed to being a champion of the NHS and its workforce, and is honoured to be involved as a judge of these incredible awards.
Caroline is the Chief Executive of NHS Lothian and has significant and demonstrable leadership experience at an executive leadership level in NHS Scotland. Her professional experience as a Registered Nurse and core values meaning she has an unwavering focus on optimising the potential of people with a particular interest in organisational cultures, accountability and leadership in complex systems.
As a senior leader in Scotland’s health and care system, Caroline is deeply aware of the impact that her leadership attitude, language and behaviour has on people, and on the culture of the organisations she leads.
Elsbeth has worked in Corporate Communications for over 30 years beginning her career in the Public Relations Department of the former Strathclyde Regional Council. Since then, she worked for a number of private and public sector organisations, including International Property Developers DTZ Debenham Thorpe, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and the Scottish Government.
Before joining NHS Forth Valley as Head of Communications, Elsbeth worked for several NHS organisations including the former Yorkhill NHS Trust, where she was appointed as the organisation’s first Press Officer, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where she held a number of senior communication roles.
John joined the NHS after 10 years in industry and has held a number of Chief Executive positions.
He has worked with the Scottish Government over 15 years, as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive and Director General in Health. He was also Director General of the Irish Health Service. John was CEO of the NHS in Scotland during the pandemic returning from an Executive role taking up the Chair of NHS Lothian.
John was a Director of the Maggie’s Centre Charity for 10 years, was awarded Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and is a visiting professor with Strathclyde University.
June Brown is a learning disability nurse having worked in both hospital and community nursing services as well as education & leadership roles. June has worked as Professional Advisor to the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate in Scottish Government as well as Consultant Nurse, Service Manager and Clinical Director for Learning Disability Services. June was Associate Nurse Director before working as Director of Clinical Operations for a rehabilitation healthcare provider. June’s current post is Executive Nurse Director responsible for clinical excellence, workforce, education and professional governance and leading the organisation’s Magnet journey. June is Chair of the Scottish Executive Nurse Director group.
Mark was appointed as medical director at NHS Golden Jubilee in 2019, and was elected to be co-chair of the Scottish Association of Medical Directors in 2024. He was previously a consultant physician and nephrologist in NHS Ayrshire & Arran for 15 years. He has also been the Chair of the Scottish Medicines Consortium and a Senior Medical Officer in the Scottish Government Workforce Directorate. Mark is a Health Foundation Fellow having gained an MSc in Quality Improvement in the first cohort of GenerationQ.
Nicola is a Physiotherapist, currently working as a Senior Improvement Advisor for the Care Inspectorate with the focus areas of safer mobility, frailty, rehabilitation & reablement. As well as this role, Nicola is a member of the Scottish Health Council – a governance committee which assures that health boards and partnerships involve people and communities in planning their services, providing essential support and strategic direction.
Tim qualified as a social worker in the late 1980s and initially worked in a number of positions in children’s services, criminal justice and adult services. In the early 2000s Tim was the Local Health Care Cooperative General Manager for East Renfrewshire. In 2005 he took on the role of Head of Health and Community Care in East Renfrewshire. Tim has been Director of Health and Social Care and Chief Officer to the IJB since June 2014. The primary focus of the role is the delivery of integrated community services across adult, children’s and justice services.
Dr Lesley Thomson KC joined NHSGGC from NHS Lanarkshire where she served on the Board for 5 years as a Non-Executive Director and Vice Chair.
In 2016 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law by the University of Glasgow. Lesley has wide ranging experience of strategy development, leadership and collaborative working with partners across the public and third sectors. She is committed to putting people at the heart of the NHS and contributing to improving lives in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Frances Carmicheal has been a senior representative within UNISON for 25 years and is currently Acute Convenor within UNISON GGC&CVS branch. Within UNISON Scotland, Frances Carmicheal is Vice-Chair of the Scottish Health Committe as well as staffside Chair for the Scottish Partnership Forum.
