National Council
The Chairman
Brian Beacom MBE
Brian Beacom is the Chairman of the Scottish Health Council and is a Board member of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. Brian has over 35 years’ experience of working for and within the community. He served as a member of Greater Glasgow Health Council from 1993 to 2001 and represented the Local Health Council on a range of committees and trust boards. Brian has a number of voluntary appointments. He is the Chairman of Priesthill Barratt Community Development Trust, Chairman of North Glasgow Healthy Living Community, Chairman of NATA (North Area Transport Association) and a Director of Hillwood Community Development Trust. Brian is a former Non-Executive Director of the State Hospitals Board for Scotland and until recently was the Manager of North Glasgow Community Health Project. He received an MBE for services to health and the community in Greater Glasgow.
Contact
Tel: 0141 225 6899 (PA)
Email: linda.bickerton@scottishhealthcouncil.org
Council Members
Anne Brown
Anne has been a National Council member with the Scottish Health Council since December 2004. She has many years experience and involvement with learning disability groups and partnerships and is currently a board member on the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. Until recently, she was a trustee on the Board of the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability.
Irene Garden
Married for 46 years and with a daughter at Edinburgh University, Irene is a senior citizen who lives in an area of Edinburgh designated as a Social Inclusion Partnership area. Involvement in different local organisations raised her awareness of the gaps and inequalities in the NHS. On a daily basis she sees the effects of poverty and unemployment in causing ill health. Irene feels that there has to be full participation and involvement of patients, carers and the public to close the gaps, reduce inequalities and make people responsible for their own health. Irene has a wide range of experience in local and national organisations such as Age Concern Scotland and the Better Government for Older People programme.
Stephen Graham
Steve is a retired telecommunications consultant, who served 21 years in the army and 21 years in the oil industry. Originally from Glasgow he is now delighted to live in Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire. His initial interest in the health service was to improve diabetes services, but his involvement has now widened considerably. He is a member of Grampian diabetes Managed Clinical Network and has been public representative on several major service redesign projects. He sits on three Scottish Diabetes Group sub-groups dealing with eyes, feet and computer-based patient records, has been a member of Diabetes UK’s National and Scottish Advisory Councils for 5 years and is currently a member of the diabetes cross-party group in Holyrood. He has a special interest in considering the implications of devolution to diabetes standards and services. Steve has been married to Gill for 46 years and has two grown up children and one grandchild. His main hobby was until recently diving and underwater photography but now is convincing Gill that he really is retired.
Pauline Hamilton
Currently a lecturer in the School of Nursing Midwifery and Community Health at Glasgow Caledonian University, Pauline began career in adult nursing at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, before gaining a mental health nursing qualification in Kent. Her clinical nursing experience has been in both hospital and community settings with a particular interest in chronic disease management. Following various posts as a staff nurse and ward sister, she continued to develop professionally by undertaking professional and teaching qualifications including a Master of Nursing Degree from the University of Glasgow. Teaching experience has been gained in a variety of institutions, with some time spent within the voluntary sector. Her experience includes membership of a Children's Panel and she is currently the Company Secretary for Loretto Care. Pauline is married with three children.
Lorna Hutcheson
Lorna lives in Glasgow. She has held a wide range of posts in education, including Principal Teacher of Modern Languages in secondary schools, Head of School in further education, and Regional Education Advisor. In 1996 Lorna joined the Scottish Qualifications Authority, where she held various qualifications management and customer liaison management posts, supporting schools and colleges in the access and delivery of qualifications. During this time she was also a Children’s Panel Member. A concern to Lorna throughout her working life has been the interrelationship between deprivation, ill health and poor life chances. Her current core interests are patients’ rights and responsibilities and the necessity for a more patient-focussed NHS. The development of accessible and quality health provision in post-devolution Scotland is also very important to her and she has represented patient groups at ministerial/ patient meetings. Lorna has made contributions to various national initiatives, including the Scottish Government’s Better Together: Scotland’s Patient Experience programme. On a local level she has been involved in a variety of fully participating patient and carer networks, such as the Stroke Managed Clinical Network, and the Heart, Stroke and Diabetes Forum. In her leisure time Lorna is an amateur artist and exhibits to raise funds for various charities. She is involved in local Social Justice initiatives, enjoys reading and is a fair-weather gardener.
Jacquie Malcolm
Jacquie Malcolm comes from Lanarkshire. She qualified as a Registered General Nurse from Gartnavel Nursing School in 1990. Jacquie has a long-standing interest in working with homeless people and people who are living with a terminal illness. In 1993 Jacquie achieved her ambition of combining work with the homeless and the terminally ill when she accepted a position as a Resettlement and Development Officer with Worthing Churches Homeless Project and the position of RGN with St Barnabas Hospice in Worthing. She then returned to Scotland in 1995 where she has continued to work in Palliative Care in the voluntary sector. She also worked as Clinical Team Leader within the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. She is now Nurse Lecturer/Course Leader at St Margaret of Scotland Hospice, Clydebank.
Agnes Robson
Agnes graduated from Edinburgh University with an honours degree in Politics and Modern History and has spent her career in the public service. She joined the Department of Employment in 1968 where she worked on labour market aspects of North Sea oil and was secretary to the Manpower Services Commission in Scotland. Following a career break, she transferred to the Scottish Office Industry Department in 1985. Her jobs there included heading the Divisions responsible for energy policy and for urban regeneration policy. From 1992-2000 she was Director of Primary Care in the Scottish Office/Executive Department of Health. From 2000 until she left the Executive in 2004, she was the Scottish Executive’s Director of Human Resources and Corporate Services and a member of the Scottish Executive Management Group. She is on the Board of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and is a volunteer adviser with the Citizens Advice Bureau.
David Weatherill
David, originally from Glasgow, now lives in Dundee. He graduated from Strathclyde University in Civil Engineering and subsequently obtained two Master’s Degrees from Glasgow University, the first in Soil Mechanics and the latter as an MBA. He has worked both in the UK and overseas as a civil engineering consultant, and for the past 15 years has run his own business, delivering IT consultancy support to both the public and private industrial sectors. David's interest in the health service developed as a result of three bouts of cancer over three years and the receipt of excellent support services from many professionals within the NHS. As a result of his personal experience, he has a specific interest in the ongoing delivery of cancer-based services but is concerned to ensure that all NHS services seek to involve patients throughout their “health journey”. David is married to Sandra and has two grown up children and two grandchildren. His main hobbies are reading, theatre and attending live music concerts.