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, a Board Member 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 the MBE for services to health and the community in Greater Glasgow.
Currently Honorary Treasurer of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Alex retired in 2005 after a career in property in the public sector, initially within the Civil Service but mainly in Local Government with 20 years' service in Strathclyde Regional Council followed by 10 years in South Lanarkshire Council. He maintains a keen interest in all health matters and is pleased to have served on Lanarkshire Health Council since 2005. His particularl interest is in opportunities for a joined-up approach to public service. Alex has lived in Motherwell for many years and is married to Doreen. They have two children, both married, and two grandchildren. His interests and hobbies include family, church, poetry, gardening and bowls.
Anne lives in Dalgety Bay, Fife and is married with two grown-up children. She is carer to her daughter, Fiona, who has profound and multiple disabilities and complex medical needs. Anne is an active member of PAMIS – a registered charity working with families caring for someone with profound and multiple learning disabilities. She is also a Trustee on the Board of the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability (SCLD) representing the University of Dundee, and a member of SCLD’s Health Committee. In her spare time – if any – she enjoys arts and crafts.
Margaret lives in Aberdeenshire and is a Housewife. A varied career background has seen Margaret teaching Home Economics through to being the Marketing Officer for His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen. She is currently an active member of a hospital-based Rheumatology Interest Group and Chair of the Westhill & District Rheumatoid Arthritis Group, and has previously been a member of the Aberdeenshire Branch of the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association. Margaret has a great deal of experience of a variety of services catering for both chronic & acute illnesses and will use this knowledge to add significant value to the work of the Scottish Health Council.
Neil is an Educational Consultant, specialising in systems analysis and interim Management. With a 35-year background in Local Government he is a former Director of Education and Chief Executive of the Western Isles Council. In recent years Neil has worked in Russia, Montenegro and Albania, aiding educational reorganisation and setting up accountability systems. Neil has served on a number of Alcohol and Drug Action Committees and is currently a member of the Western Isles Local Advisory Council of the Scottish Health Council. Neil was awarded an OBE in 1987 for services to Education and holds an honorary doctorate from the Open University.
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.
Jacquie Malcolm is 37 and 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 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.