Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce

Leadership Spotlight: Colin, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Director

Career History

Colin took up his post of RCN Scotland Director in 2022. A registered nurse for over 30 years, Colin has been a key member of the RCN Scotland team for many years including Associate Director for Pay, Terms and Conditions. He has also worked across the UK and spent time working as an Associate Director in RCN Northern Ireland during the period of pay dispute which, for the first time in the RCN’s history, led to industrial action and a significant victory and recognition for nursing as a profession. 

Colin's Role in RCN Scotland

As Executive Director of RCN Scotland, Colin has led a number of successful campaigns which have resulted in significant wins for the Nursing profession, including the creation of the first Ministerial-led Taskforce for Nursing and Midwifery.

Leadership Spotlight: Gillian, Executive Director of Nursing, NHS Fife

NHS Fife

Gillian is Executive Director of Nursing at NHS Fife, leading safe staffing, quality improvement, clinical governance and digital enablement for patients, families and the Nursing, Midwifery and AHP workforce across Fife. A highly respected and effective executive nurse leader, she is known for collaborative, person-centred and compassionate leadership that delivers tangible improvements in quality, safety and experience.

Career Experience

Previously Acute Nurse Director in NHS Lothian, Gillian has led large-scale transformation across acute and community services, including innovative approaches to urgent care, workforce governance and person-centred care planning, with demonstrable impact on outcomes, safety and value. Nationally, she has chaired the Scottish Acute Leaders Community of Practice and the person-centred Excellence in Care Group, co-designing a Once for Scotland approach to quality of care reviews and national standards for measuring person-centredness in practice.

Gillian's Leadership

Winner of the Sue Pembrey Award for Person-Centred Leadership 2023/24, Gillian combines strengths in strategic thinking, maximising potential and people-focused leadership with a strong commitment to equality, staff wellbeing and inclusive digital innovation. She is passionate about creating the conditions for excellence, developing leaders at all levels and building psychologically safe, high-performing teams that can sustain compassionate, person-centred cultures of care.

Leadership Spotlight: Sam, Executive Director of NMAHP and Chief Officer Acute Services, NHS Orkney

NHS Orkney

Sam is the Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery, Allied Health Professionals and Chief Officer Acute Services in NHS Orkney. NHS Orkney is the smallest territorial health board in Scotland and is responsible for the health care of the population of Orkney, which is made up of approximately 22,000 people, NHS Orkney employs around 800 staff and provides a comprehensive range of primary, community-based and acute hospital services.

Experience

Sam qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1997 and has spent the last 29 years working in the NHS in both England and Scotland across primary and secondary care.

Leadership Spotlight: Donna, Head of Learning and Organisational Development, NHS Golden Jubilee

NHS Golden Jubilee

Donna is Head of Learning and Organisational Development at NHS Golden Jubilee, where she leads work to strengthen leadership, organisational culture, employee experience and workforce capability. She works closely with leaders at all levels and across all professions to design and deliver learning and development approaches that support compassionate leadership, effective teamwork and sustainable individual, team and organisational performance. Donna is also the Lead for the Board‑approved Kindness Matters Culture Programme, which places kindness, compassion and inclusion at the heart of how we work together and deliver care.

Donna's Leadership

Donna’s approach in all that she does is values‑led, with a strong focus on co‑design and creating psychologically safe environments where people can do their best work. Outside of work, she loves to travel, gardening, really enjoys good food and the company of friends and family — which reminds her that she should probably join a gym at some point!