Board Members

John joined the NHS after 10 years in industry.

He is an experienced leader who has held a number of Chief Executive positions in Scotland.

He has worked with the Scottish Government over a 15 year period, holding the posts of Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive and Director General in Health.

He has also served as Director General of the Irish Health Service based in Dublin, with responsibilities for 150,000 staff and £16 billion budget.

He was awarded Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2016 and is a visiting professor with Strathclyde University.

Andrew Fleming is a retired senior civil servant with experience designing and delivering strategic improvements across a range of public policy areas, including health, justice, community safety, environment and heritage.

In his last Scottish Government posting Andrew led the sponsorship function of the 14 territorial health boards during the covid-19 pandemic. Prior to that he was head of strategy and corporate functions in Revenue Scotland, including acting as SRO for the delivery of a new on-line tax collection and management system. He has also designed and implemented a major change programme leading to the creation of Historic Environment Scotland and was responsible for bringing together the underpinning business case which led to creation of a single fire and rescue service for Scotland.

Andrew has a professional background as a social researcher and is currently Convenor of Evaluation Support Scotland – a charity which supports the 3rd sector measure its impact.

A Scottish Solicitor and Notary Public, Phil has over 20 years’ international legal and business experience, and was Chief Counsel, Governance and Compliance, Europe, BT Plc.

He is a lecturer and senior tutor at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Phil holds degrees in mathematics, information technology and law.

Jonathan Blazeby is a Chartered Accountant who worked in the professional services sector as a Director with PwC in the UK and Hong Kong. He has led large and complex statutory audits, financial and operational restructurings and Mergers and Acquisitions across multiple industries and countries.

He also worked at a senior level to oversee finance, operations and transformation (people and systems). After 27 years in Hong Kong, he has returned to live in the Edinburgh area to be closer to family. Jonathan brings technical expertise in finance, audit and risk to the role, as well as strengths in leadership, change management and workforce strategies.

Dr Patricia Cantley has worked as a doctor since 1988, at consultant level as a Geriatrician since 1997 in hospitals across Lothian and more recently in NHS Borders from 2022 to 2024.

Her special interests professionally include developing Hospital at Home services and alternatives to admission for frail older patients and addressing inequalities in access to care wherever possible.

Patricia writes and teaches on the provision of high quality end of life care for people regardless of setting, and served on the Board of Governors for St Columba’s Hospice in Edinburgh from 2012-2020.

Patricia previously chaired the Scottish Branch of the British Geriatrics Society and is a current member of the Council at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, giving the opportunity to see issues at national as well as local level. 

With a range of experiences as a patient, relative and staff member, Patricia hopes to bring a practical and recent clinical perspective to the Board, with a positive attitude, energy and enthusiasm for improvement.

Andrew worked for over 25 years in the NHS holding Senior Manager and Director positions at a number of NHS Trusts in the Northwest of England, his focus being on operational management with particular interests and experience in service transformation, improvement and the role of technology in healthcare.

Andrew was involved in and held leadership roles for several major system level reforms across Greater Manchester working in partnership with colleagues from across primary, secondary, tertiary and community care. After leaving the NHS, Andrew spent a number of years working within the Health Technology industry holding senior leadership roles with both IBM and Siemens Healthcare.

Andrew lives in Edinburgh with his wife Debbie, a GP practice nurse, they have 3 grown up children, 2 of whom live and work in Scotland.

Martin is a qualified accountant and M.B.A. who has recently returned home after a long and successful career in England. He is currently a Non-Executive Director for the RAC Pension Scheme and Chair of their Audit and Governance Committee.

Before returning to Scotland Martin had been a Non-Executive Director with a Worcestershire NHS Trust where he chaired their Audit Committee and was a member of the Quality and Safety Committee.

He was also the Treasurer of DIAL, a Worcester-based disability charity that provides information and support for people with disabilities and their families. He was also treasurer of Sampad, a South Asian Arts organisation based in Birmingham. Martin previously worked for the Department of Work and Pensions and spent 20 years working for the RAC in a variety of senior management roles.

I am delighted to be re-joining the board of NHS Lothian as an Non-Executive lay member. I intend to continue championing areas of disability, equalities and sustainability and was the former Spokesperson and Champion for the City of Edinburgh Council in these areas. I have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in these fields having worked for forty years in my own community in North Edinburgh.

I have set up and assisted numerous community councils, groups and organisations for young and older citizens. I also have experience in other important areas and was the former Chair of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Edible Edinburgh Partnership, the Capital City Partnership and was the council observer to Edinburgh Citizens Advice Bureau, which gives me a broad and diverse understanding of the requirements of our patients across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

In my previous role as the council representative to the board I have taken on numerous committees and groups within NHS Lothian and I am looking forward to continuing and increasing this level of commitment which gives me a great understating as to what is expected of all board members in representing the communities, people’s and patients best interests.

Elizabeth spent the first 10 years of her career as a Solicitor in private practice in the occupational pensions team of a large Scottish law firm. Her time working in this field included many years of significant & complex legal change as the UK Government transformed regulatory protection for members of occupational pensions schemes. Clients included boards of trustees of UK-wide pension schemes and work involved advising on changes in the law and regulatory compliance, interpretation and drafting of trust deeds and pensions aspects of corporate transactions.

She then took up a new post, with a wide-ranging remit, managing a large, independent provider of NHS dentistry in Edinburgh and has been there for over 14 years. Elizabeth’s focus has always been to ensure that the dental practices provide a service that prioritises safe, high quality NHS patient care and compliance alongside the wellbeing of the clinical team.

Elizabeth looks forward to combining her experience and knowledge acquired in a primary care management setting with the skills developed from her legal education and background.

John Innes is a Chartered Engineer, Physicist and Professor of Cyber & Data Security with over thirty five years of experience in the design, development and implementation of new technologies and systems for major multi-national companies in the aerospace and defence sectors.

John has held Senior Management and Chief Engineer/Chief Technology Officer roles managing, directing and leading technical development and change programmes, including digital transformation of products, systems, organisations and businesses.

John is the Non-Executive Chair of Space Scotland Company and on the Advisory Board of the Leverhulme Center for Forensic Science.

I graduated from the University of Dundee in 1986 and I have worked as a General Practitioner since 1992 in an inner-city practice both in Wolverhampton and Leith.  I have been a GP Trainer and actively involved in Medical Education since 2003 at NHS West Midlands and NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

I joined NES in 2015 and prior to my retirement in June 2023, I was the Postgraduate General Practice Dean for Scotland for 5 years, with additional responsibility within NES for Professional Development and Appraisal & Revalidation.  I have many years’ experience of undertaking Quality Assurance visits within primary and secondary care.   During my time as Postgraduate Dean, I was also Chair of all the UK Primary Care Deans from 2021-2023.  

In my spare time, I am a member of the Rotary Club of Leith and Convenor for the International Committee.  I also enjoy cooking and a huge fan of cricket.

Katharina is a senior risk and compliance professional, with substantial experience acting as a risk subject matter expert and professional adviser. Her core areas of expertise are audit, oversight and assurance, risk management, financial crime prevention and organisational transformation. Katharina is passionate about leading by example, facilitating meaningful organisational change and delivering a lasting positive impact for all stakeholders. She joins the NHS Lothian Board as a Non-executive Whistleblowing Champion.

Katharina’s career to date has included a number of senior risk, compliance and transformation roles in the Financial Services (FS) industry, She is an experienced management consultant, advising a wide breadth of UK and EU based financial institutions, including FS regulators. Katharina holds an MA in Business and Law from the University of Edinburgh and a Diploma in Enterprise Risk Management from the Institute of Risk Management.

Katharina’s interests include travel, photography and arts and crafts.

A career that began in forecasting for the drinks industry, Peter has applied his knowledge of data and intelligence in health and social care over four decades, before joining the Board in 2022. In his earlier roles he developed information that ensured policy ambitions were met on improving NHS waiting times, planning older people’s services, enabling integration of community health and social care and improving aspects of population health and well-being.

Peter has collaborated with clinicians and other front-line professionals on their information needs, surveyed patients on their experiences, and supported the decision making of Chief Executives, Chief Officers and the Scottish Government, among others.

Whether in ISDScotland (now Public Health Scotland), where Peter was Head of Statistics for a time, on or secondment for nearly a decade to the Scottish Government, Peter has brought constructive challenge and facilitation of change to many constituencies, driven by effective use of data.

Val de Souza has significant experience and interest in working across organisational and cultural boundaries. She has held a number of senior leadership roles in health, social care and social work in Scotland, working across justice, children and adults services, in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. She spent the last five years as Chief Officer for South Lanarkshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), and Director of Social Services, working across NHS Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Council. In these roles Val was responsible for community health services, primary care, palliative care, allied health professionals and social work services.

Prior to this she was acting Chief Officer for Stirling and Clackmannanshire HSCP and the Chief Social Work Officer for these two local authorities, which included responsibility for two national prisons, HM Prison Glenochil and HMP YOI Cornton Vale.

She was instrumental in introducing and implementing the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 and continues to have a keen interest in all aspects of Public Protection and social justice.

She is a graduate of University College Dublin, and holds postgraduate qualifications from the Universities of Edinburgh and Robert Gordon Business School.She has recently been appointed to the Board of NHS Lothian as a Non Executive Director. She is also a professional adviser for Positive Help, an Edinburgh based charity supporting child and families effected by HIV and Hepatitis C.

Tracy Anne has been employed by NHS Lothian since 1983 and is a Registered Mental Health Nurse. She started her nursing career at the former Rosslynlee Hospital and after a few years she moved to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital where she worked for over 12 years. Her last post was as a Community Psychiatric Nurse in Midlothian.

Tracy Anne became a Shop Steward with the union COHSE which merged with two other unions in 1993 into UNISON. Tracy Anne has been the UNISON Branch Secretary for the last 3 years.

Tracy Anne was the first Partnership Lead in Midlothian when partnership working was introduced to the NHS in 1999. She was the Partnership Lead at the RIE for a period of 8 years up until she was successfully elected and appointed as NHS Lothian’s first female Employee Director in January 2022.

Tracy Anne is a wife, mother and grandmother. Her interests include for Scottish history, travelling around Scotland and a passion for social justice. 

Eddie joined the Lothian NHS Board on 1 May 2024. He is Chair of the Area Clinical Forum (ACF) and the Lothian Area Allied Health Professions Advisory Committee (LAAHPC). The ACF provides a multi-professional clinical perspective on strategy development and service delivery issues, ensuring the voice of health professionals is considered by the NHS Board.

In his role as ACF Chair, Eddie serves on various board governance committees, including the Healthcare Governance Committee and is also a trustee of the NHS Lothian charity.

As Chief AHP for NHS Lothian’s Acute Division, Eddie is responsible for leading Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy in both the Adult and Childrens’ hospitals and pan Lothian Speech and Language Therapy.

Lorna is Professor of Transplant Surgery  and Dean of Clinical Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

She is an Honorary Consultant transplant surgeon, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and continues to contribute clinically to the renal transplant programme.

She is Past-President of the British Transplantation Society, and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of NHS Blood and Transplant in March 2024. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

I was born I in Bathgate in 1966. My education was firstly at Balbardie Primary School then Bathgate Academy.

After sitting my highers in 1983 I left school and worked for many years with the Country Park Ranger Service.

I changed career in the mid 1990’s and started working in the third sector eventually becoming the National Chairperson of the UK Coalition Against Poverty based in our headquarters in Liverpool.

From there I was recruited by the then Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee Michael Connarty MP as a Parliamentary Aide based at our UK Parliament in Westminster.

In 2012 I was privileged and honoured to be elected to represent my home town on West Lothian Council and have subsequently been returned at two further elections.

I have an adult daughter and a step daughter who is aged 10 – my lifelong interests are the game of golf, cycling , hill walking and my dogs.

In 2019 I was unexpectedly diagnosed with the blood cancer myeloma and underwent chemotherapy treatment before undergoing a gruelling self stem cell transplant at our Western Infirmary – I will be forever indebted to our NHS Professionals for their care and professionalism.

Councillor Derek Milligan originally joined NHS Lothian to serve as a Non-Executive Board Member in June 2017 to May 2022 Derek was again re appointed to NHS Lothian to serve as a Non-Executive Board Member following the Council elections in May 2022.

He was elected to serve the Bonnyrigg ward at the Council elections in 1999 and he currently Chairs the Council’s Cabinet and Licensing Board and is Vice Chair of Midlothian Integrated Joint Board. He has chaired many other committees throughout his years such as Performance, Review and Scrutiny and Planning.

He is also Secretary, and heavily involved in the work of the Bonnyrigg Community Events Committee and finds this work extremely rewarding.

Derek has one son, one daughter and three grandchildren and is a huge supporter of Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club.

Image and info coming soon.

Councillor Shamin Akhtar was elected onto East Lothian Council in 2012. During this time she was the Cabinet Spokesperson for Education & Children Services for nine years. She has recently taken on the role of Cabinet Spokesperson for Health & Social Care and is Depute Leader of East Lothian Council. 

Before being elected as a Councillor Shamin was Policy Officer for Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations for over a decade. She has Chaired a range of voluntary and community sector boards which have focused on employability, race equality and housing. 

Shamin joined NHS Lothian Board as a Non-Executive Board Member in February 2021. Her areas of interest are early intervention and prevention initiatives that are supported in the local community. 

Shamin has two children and likes to spend her time at anyone of East Lothian beaches or beautiful walks.

More information to follow

Miss Gillies, who is a general surgeon, took up the Medical Director’s post on 1st February 2017. Tracey spent a significant part of her career at NHS Lothian, before joining NHS Forth Valley in 2014.

In her role as Medical Director, Tracey will be responsible for providing professional advice to the board and leadership to medical professionals, pharmacists, healthcare scientists and occupational health and safety staff across the Lothians.

She will also be the Lead Director for medical workforce planning and the education and training of doctors to secure high quality teaching and training in partnership with the University of Edinburgh Medical School and NHS Education Scotland.

Prior to his appointment as Director of Finance for NHS Lothian Craig was the Deputy Director of Finance of NHS Lothian for 8 years. He was also previously the Director of Finance at NHS Dumfries and Galloway for 5 years.

He has over 25 years of experience working in the NHS having first joined the service in 1994 as a national finance trainee with NHS Ayrshire and Arran. He is an active member of the finance community in NHS Scotland and is currently Chair of the Scottish HFMA Branch and is a previous Chair of CIPFA in Scotland.

In his spare time he is a keen trail runner and enjoys spending time with his two daughters and wife Joanne.

Prior to joining Lothian as Director of Public Health and Health Policy, Dona was DPH in Fife, following a six year period as Deputy Director in Lothian. She has worked in children and young people’s health and education within local authorities, the voluntary sector, Scottish Government and the NHS. Dona is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health. Her career has taken her to YWCA Scotland as Depute Director (Scotland) and for 7 years she led the ‘Healthy Respect’ National Demonstration Project. In 2008, Dona was seconded to Scottish Government and led the H1N1 vaccination campaign following a period in sexual health and HIV policy. She has worked as a Consultant in Public Health since 2010.

Her main interests are reducing inequalities, particularly through work on social determinants, reducing poverty and increasing life chances. She is independent chair of the Scottish Youth Work Research Group. In a voluntary capacity, she is a Trustee with Youth Scotland and Inspiring Scotland.

Alison has spent her career in the NHS and has over 40 years of nursing experience. For the past three years, Alison has worked to deliver integrated health and social care as Director for ELHSCP and Chief Officer of the East Lothian Joint Integration Board. Alison oversaw a number of significant developments in this time, including the opening of the new community hospital in Haddington, ELHSCP becoming a high performing partnership in terms of reducing delays in discharge, and the development of innovative community services. Prior to this position, Alison held a number of senior nursing positions in NHS Lothian.

Alison is absolutely delighted to be taking up the role of Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, having always been driven to make sure that people get the help and support they need to live well and that staff are empowered to deliver good quality care.

Alison is a firm believer in change and innovation and thinks it really important that our healthcare services continue to adapt to the way people live now.