Public appointment: Chair reappointed to the Board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care, Angela Constance MSP, today announced the reappointment of Carole Wilkinson as Chair of the Board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). 

 

Chair 

Carole Wilkinson has been the Chair of HIS for six years. She has held a number of non-executive roles including serving as a Member of NHS Education, as Chair of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and as interim Chair of NHS Tayside.  Her background is in social work and social care and on moving to Scotland she was appointed Director of Social Work in Falkirk, later becoming the first Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council.  She was elected as Chair of the NHS Chairs Group holding the position for two years. Carole has served on a number of Scottish Government Working Groups looking at workforce issues in particular initiatives to improve the training and education of social services workers and raise their profile. 

 

Reappointment 

The reappointment is for one year from 10 October 2026 to 9 October 2027. 

The reappointment is regulated by the Ethical Standards Commissioner. 

 

Remuneration and time commitment 

The reappointment attracts remuneration of £300.00 per day for a time commitment of three days per week. 

 

Other Ministerial appointments 

As part of her responsibilities as Chair of HIS, Carole is also a Member of the Board of the Care Inspectorate. She receives no additional remuneration for that role. 

 

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. 

Carole has had no political activity within the last five years. 

 

Background 

HIS is the national improvement organisation for health and social care in Scotland. Their core purpose is to enable the people of Scotland to experience the best quality health and social care, with a specific focus on safety.  

Their role is to be at the heart of national efforts to understand, shape and improve the quality and safety of health and social care. They ensure that the people of Scotland can rely on and trust the services they are using, and that those who are delivering care are supported to continuously improve. They are uniquely positioned in the system because of their ability to combine assurance, improvement, engagement and evidence, which means they can: 

• ensure care is safe, effective and evidence-based, person-centred, and equitable; 

• deliver improvement programmes for care that people receive in different settings; 

• inform decision making across the system with our learning, intelligence and evidence; 

• support change and reform through methodology and resources.