New Board Members Appointed and Reappointments To Highland NHS Board
18th December 2020
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman MSP, today announced the appointments of Gerard O'Brien, Graham Bell OBE and Susan Ringwood as Members of Highland NHS Board.
MEMBERS
Gerard O'Brien is an experienced NHS professional who has worked in NHS Scotland for over twenty years. Having served as Director of Finance of NHS Orkney and the Scottish Ambulance Service, Mr O'Brien was appointed as Chief Executive of NHS Orkney, retiring in June 2020. Mr O'Brien has a wealth of experience in the NHS and in particular strategic and financial planning. Mr O'Brien is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Graham Bell OBE has experience of organisational development, major project implementation and operational sustainability. For 24 years, he was Chief Executive at Kibble, a specialist service provider of services for children and young people at risk. He has worked in both third sector and public service delivery and has wide international experience of economic and social development.
With Board experience gained in multiple settings across the public, private and charitable sectors, he brings independent thinking, an enquiring and learning mindset, and an understanding of scrutiny, accountability, guidance and support. He is currently an Executive Director of The Leader Scotland, a multi-sector leadership support and development company.
Susan Ringwood has spent her career working in the voluntary sector- always involving work with people and had 13 years as a Chief Executive running the UK wide charity for people affected by eating disorders: Beat. Susan has undertaken a variety of roles with the NHS in England prior to her move to Scotland, including being a Non-Executive (Lay member) of a Clinical Commissioning Group where she had responsibility for the oversight of public and patient engagement, and was Vice Chair of the audit committee.
She has served on NICE Guidelines committees, NHS task forces for young people's mental health, and most recently as a Lay member of the national Medicines' Optimisation Committee, looking at mitigating the impact of antimicrobial resistance, among other issues.
Susan is passionate about engagement and involvement in service design, delivery and impact measurement and is looking forward to the opportunity to contribute to the governance of NHS Highland.
APPOINTMENTS
The appointments will be for four years and will run from 1st January 2021 to
31st December 2024.
The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
REMUNERATION
The appointments are part-time and attract a remuneration of £8,842 per annum for a time commitment of one day per week.
OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Graham Bell OBE is a Member of the Community Justice Scotland Board for which he receives remuneration of £233 per day, for a time commitment of two days per month.
Gerard O'Brien and Susan Ringwood do not hold any other public appointments.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
Gerard O'Brien, Graham Bell OBE and Susan Ringwood have had no political activity with the last five years.
NHS Highland's catchment area comprises the largest and most sparsely populated part of the UK. It is responsible for meeting the health needs of around 320,000 people living in the area, and provides a comprehensive range of primary, community-based and acute hospital services for the population.
Members Reappointed to Highland NHS Board
Gaener Rodger worked as an academic Researcher across the UK in the field of Virology after gaining her PhD at the University of Cambridge; before moving to Inverness where she used her scientific knowledge and experience to work with the Life Science and Health sector across the Highlands & Islands in a Business
Development role at Highlands & Islands Enterprise. The growth of the University of the Highlands and Islands provided an opportunity for Gaener to return to academia and she joined and then led the UHI team at the Centre for Rural Health. After having her second child she then took on a new role in education and training with
the sexual health charity, Brook Scotland, delivering and managing educational programmes for young people across the Highland Region and delivering training to Professionals working with young people across Scotland.
In October 2016, Gaener was appointed to the Board of NHS Highland where she currently Chairs the NHS Highland Clinical Governance Committee and represents NHS Highland on the Argyll & Bute Joint Integration Board. Since August 2018,
Gaener has been the Chair of the Highland Children and Young People’s Forum (formally Highland Children’s Forum) and in November 2018, she was appointed to the Board of the Cairngorm National Park Authority. Gaener currently volunteers with
Girlguiding Scotland, supporting both young people and adult leaders, and is passionate about listening to the voices of people that use our public services, empowering young people to be active participants in society, ensuring equality and equity of access to public services and the role of public bodies in enhancing the
mental and physical wellbeing of our population.
EXTENSION
This extension will be for nine months and will run from 1 October 2020 to 30 June 2021.
This extension is regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life
in Scotland.
REMUNERATION
This extension is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £8,584 per annum for a time commitment of one day per week.
OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Gaener Rodger is a Member of the Cairngorms National Park Authority where she receives a remuneration of £213.69 per day, for a time commitment of three days per month.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
Gaener Rodger has had no political activity in the last five years.
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Ann Clark has a background in researching, developing and implementing health and social care policy in the Highlands, including as Head of Policy at Highland Council, as a research fellow at UHI Centre for Rural Health and as a Director of her own consultancy business. Ms Clark has a life-long interest in user involvement in service design and community empowerment and was Director of Highland Community Care Forum for four years. Ms Clark is a previous Chair of the sexual health charity Highland Brook and served for six years as a Director of Partnerships for Wellbeing.
APPOINTMENT - This reappointment will be for four years, running from 1st April 2021 until 31st March 2025.
This reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
REMUNERATION - The reappointment is part-time and attracts a remuneration of £8,842 per annum for a time commitment of one day per week.
OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS - Ann Clark does not hold any other ministerial appointments.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY - All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
Ann Clark has had no political activity over the last five years.
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Gerard O’Brien is an experienced NHS professional who has worked in NHS Scotland for over twenty years. Having served as Director of Finance of NHS Orkney and the Scottish Ambulance Service, Mr O’Brien was appointed as Chief Executive of NHS Orkney, retiring in June 2020. Mr O’Brien has a wealth of experience in the NHS and in particular strategic and financial planning. Mr O’Brien is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Graham Bell OBE has experience of organisational development, major project implementation and operational sustainability. For 24 years, he was Chief Executive at Kibble, a specialist service provider of services for children and young people at risk. He has worked in both third sector and public service delivery and has wide international experience of economic and social development.
With Board experience gained in multiple settings across the public, private and charitable sectors, he brings independent thinking, an enquiring and learning mindset, and an understanding of scrutiny, accountability, guidance and support. He is currently an Executive Director of The Leader Scotland, a multi-sector leadership support and development company.
Susan Ringwood has spent her career working in the voluntary sector- always involving work with people and had 13 years as a Chief Executive running the UK wide charity for people affected by eating disorders: Beat. Susan has undertaken a variety of roles with the NHS in England prior to her move to Scotland, including being a Non-Executive (Lay member) of a Clinical Commissioning Group where she had responsibility for the oversight of public and patient engagement, and was Vice Chair of the audit committee.
She has served on NICE Guidelines committees, NHS task forces for young people’s mental health, and most recently as a Lay member of the national Medicines’ Optimisation Committee, looking at mitigating the impact of antimicrobial resistance, among other issues.
Susan is passionate about engagement and involvement in service design, delivery and impact measurement and is looking forward to the opportunity to contribute to the governance of NHS Highland.
APPOINTMENTS
The appointments will be for four years and will run from 1st January 2021 to
31st December 2024.
The appointments are regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
REMUNERATION
The appointments are part-time and attract a remuneration of £8,842 per annum for a time commitment of one day per week.
OTHER MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS
Graham Bell OBE is a Member of the Community Justice Scotland Board for which he receives remuneration of £233 per day, for a time commitment of two days per month.
Gerard O’Brien and Susan Ringwood do not hold any other public appointments.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity within the last five years (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.
Gerard O’Brien, Graham Bell OBE and Susan Ringwood have had no political activity with the last five years.
Full Board listing at https://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/Meetings/Pages/NHSHighlandBoard.aspx
