One of the Scottish government’s most senior health directorate civil servants is to retire this month and immediately become chair of a major NHS board.

John Connaghan, NHS Scotland’s chief operating officer, stepped up as interim chief executive of NHS Scotland in May 2020 after the resignation of Malcolm Wright for health reasons, working in this role until Caroline Lamb was appointed on a permanent basis later that year.

The move from an executive leadership position in the Scottish government to a non-executive role overseeing an NHS board’s work is unusual.

As chair of NHS Lothian, Mr Connaghan will find himself on the opposite side of the table when it comes to the board’s repeated requests for extra funding relative to population share – which the government has so far not accepted.

Other issues include securing funding for the replacement of Edinburgh’s Eye Pavilion and an ongoing inquiry into the construction of the Sick Kids hospital, whose opening was delayed after last minute checks revealed safety issues.

The row over who was responsible for design issues with the hospital saw the resignation of the then chair and chief executive a matter of weeks apart, with an interim chair then being appointed.

The appointment of Mr Connaghan to the role, which commands a salary of £44,000 for three days of work a week, was announced alongside new chairs for NHS Western Isles and the State Hospitals Board.

Candidates are recommended by a selection panel but the relevant Scottish Minister makes the “final decision” to appoint a candidate, according to the Scottish government’s website.

Mr Connaghan began his working life in the printing and publishing industry before moving to NHS management, including Glasgow and Edinburgh hospitals, before moving to the civil service in 2006 in various national NHS Scotland roles. He also served as Director General of the Irish Health Service Executive .

Former Ayrshire & Arran chief executive John Burns will replace Mr Connaghan in the chief operating officer role.

Mr Connaghan told healthandcare.scot he was “honoured” to have been selected as chair:

“This is a board that I worked in some years ago as CEO of the Western General. I know many of the team in Lothian and I will be delighted to support the work of the board in starting on the road to recovery.

“It will be one of my priorities to foster good whole system working across Lothian with all of our partners in health and in community and social care.

“I am mindful that our staff in Lothian – as with all other boards – deserve the highest praise we can offer for their extraordinary response to the pandemic and we will want to ensure that staff wellbeing is one of our ongoing priorities.”

Lothian CEO Calum Campbell said: “We welcome the appointment of John Connaghan CBE to chair the board of NHS Lothian.

“He will bring a wealth of experience and leadership to this important role with an extensive background in health and interests in health performance, delivery and transformation.”

Gillian McCannon has been appointed chair of Western Isles NHS Board, with a salary of £30,000 a year. She trained as a nurse and was promoted to senior nursing roles, helping to lead service transformation and being appointed as an academic teaching fellow for undergraduate and post graduate nurse education at the Western Isles Campus for the University of Stirling.

Social work professional Brian Moore will be paid just under £28,000 to chair the State Hospitals Board for Scotland. In May 2017, he retired from the position of Chief Officer for Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership after a 39-year career in local authority social care and social work services as both a practitioner and senior manager.

Read more: Leaders chosen for national health & social care roles Watchdogs’ concerns at NHS leadership ‘churn’ Sick Kids trouble-shooter to lead NHS NSS

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