Non-executive directors

Non-executive directors provide independent oversight and guidance to the Board. They help ensure decisions are well-informed, balanced, and reflective of the needs of stakeholders across Scotland.

Lisa Blackett - Non Executive Member

Lisa is an independent consultant with over 30 years’ international and diverse experience with the healthcare industry and the NHS. She is also a qualified coach and facilitator with a focus on individual and organisational wellbeing. She is a Non-Executive Director at Potential in Me, a Scottish social enterprise supporting young people.

Paul Buchanan - Non Executive Member

Paul's a management consultant with a keen interest in the socio-economic make-up of Scotland.

For the past 20 years he has supported public and voluntary organisations to develop stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities with an emphasis on healthy ageing, young people, and rural development. He brings extensive board experience in sectors including tertiary education, housing, tourism, and heritage.

Paul was recently Vice Chair of Glasgow Colleges’ Regional Board, is currently on the Management Committee of Loreburn Housing Association and has been chair of the audit committees for both bodies.

Ian Cant - Employee Director

Ian has held various positions within Practitioner and Counter Fraud Services. For the past decade he's been an active UNISON steward and since 2015 the Chair of the UNISON Scottish Heath Care Branch. Ian has also served as the NSS Staff Side chair.

Olga Clayton - Non Executive Member

Olga Clayton has had an extensive career as a leader in Scotland’s housing and care sectors for over thirty years. In her most recent role, as Group Director of Housing and Care at the Wheatley Group she was responsible for the provision of housing, care and support services to over 200,000 people in communities across Scotland. This included the creation of Wheatley Care in 2019 through the merger of two existing care organisations.

Olga also has significant experience of the strategic planning and commissioning of care services having worked in a number of local authorities, including as Head of Community Care and Housing at North Ayrshire Council. With a track record of delivering innovative joint services across housing, care and health she has a particular focus on how workforce development and education can enable frontline workers to work across boundaries to provide integrated approaches fit for the future.

Olga has been a Trustee of the National Autistic Society since 2021 and is Chair of its Adult Services Review Group.

Shona Cowan - Non Executive Member

Shona Cowan has spent her career in the NHS and Scottish Government in leadership roles which focussed on people services including; learning and development, organisational change and service improvement and redesign.

As an experienced senior manager she has worked in a variety of NHS organisations and has specialist skills in service management, strategy development and policy implementation along with expertise in bringing together networks of professionals from clinical, managerial and academic backgrounds.

Shona has led national improvement collaboratives on areas such as mental health in primary care and was the programme director of the first national education programme for quality improvement in NHS Scotland.

Developing the digital and data workforce along with leading digital transformation projects has been a particular focus in the last number of years both in NHS NSS and laterally Public Health Scotland.

Until March 2023 she was the Chair of The Data Lab Innovation Centre Skills Advisory Board and is also an alumni of the Scottish Public Sector Digital Champions programme.

Jean Ford - Non Executive Member

Jean Ford has had an extensive and successful career in banking, holding senior roles in Bank of Scotland, HBoS, Lloyds Banking Group and TSB.

She has a track record of delivering complex projects on time and within budget and in recent years has played key roles in major change and business transformation programmes as part of the mergers of Bank of Scotland and Halifax, HBoS and Lloyds Banking Group and in the building of TSB.

She has also managed branches, a corporate banking area and performed several executive office, board secretariat and risk management and audit roles.

She brings an extensive and flexible set of technical, specialist and general management skills to apply in her non-executive role.

Jean holds an open university degree in social sciences with economics and an international certificate in risk management.

Lynnette Grieve - Employee Director

Lynnette joined NHS Education for Scotland in 2005, working as Executive Office Manager in the Office of Chair and Chief Executive and then moving over to Planning and Corporate Resources Directorate.  She has served as the NES Lead Unison Officer and was elected as the Staff Side Chair of the NES Partnership Forum in 2020 and has also served as the NES Employee Director.

Gordon Greenhill - Non Executive Member

Gordon has over 35 years of experience working in local government and qualified as an Environmental Health Officer, working in a city authority and in a rural island community. He progressed to a senior level holding the posts of Head of Service and Executive Director. Away from work Gordon coached in youth club football for many years.

Annie Gunner Logan - Non Executive Member

Annie Gunner Logan brings considerable insight and experience from her previous role as Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS), a membership organisation bringing together Scotland’s third sector social care organisations. 

Annie served as a non-executive Director of the Scottish Government from 2014 to 2023, and in that capacity served on the Executive Board of the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). She is now a member of the advisory board of the King's & Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer (KLTR) and and is a senior advisor to the Scottish Government's Social Security Programme.  

She has previously served as a non-executive member on a range of public and voluntary sector boards, including the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the UK drug and alcohol treatment charity, Phoenix Futures.  

Annie has a master's degree in Social and Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh.

Arturo Langa - Non Executive Member

Arturo has had a career that spans 30 years of public services in the NHS and includes working at a senior management executive level, both chairing, and being a member of a variety of leadership committees. He is currently a consultant psychiatrist for NHS Lanarkshire. Patient safety is an area he has been passionate about for many years.

Additionally, he is an experienced non-executive board member who has chaired board committees and provided strategic input, business knowledge, and strong governance. Arturo sits on the Court of Queen Margaret University as well as being a Visiting Professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Beth Lawton - Non Executive Member

Beth Lawton was most recently the Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at the University of Strathclyde. She provided digital leadership for the University and led its Information Services, Library and Continuous Improvement Directorates.  

Beth has delivered technology and digital transformation in a range of public sector organisations, including the NHS, Big Lottery Fund and the Royal Households. In 2007, Beth was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in recognition of her transformational work within the Royal Households.

She has been a trustee of a national mental health charity and is a mentor for women in technology.

Maria McGill - Non Executive Member

Maria retired in 2020, prior to this she worked for 37 years in the NHS and the voluntary sector as a nurse, senior leader, and CEO. Maria has a particular interest in developing and leading strategic change using creative and inclusive processes.

Since 2020 Maria has been appointed to the Care Inspectorate Board, serves as a trustee with Marie Curie UK and is a member of the Promise Scotland Oversight Board.

George Valiotis - Non Executive Member

George Valiotis is a strategic leader with expertise in advancing health systems and workforce development through transformative education. He is the Executive Director of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi), which holds official relations status with the World Health Organization. George previously led the European Health Management Association, spearheading BeWell, a landmark project to upskill 15 million European healthcare professionals in digital and green competencies. 

As the CEO of HIV Scotland, he led the implementation of Scotland’s national PrEP program, halving new HIV infections and setting a global benchmark for public health innovation. His ability to design impactful learning strategies and foster collaborative partnerships has been instrumental in advancing workforce development and education, aligning with NHS Education for Scotland's commitment to creating sustainable, high-quality healthcare solutions.