Press release: New Chairman for the Scottish NHS Confederation

01 Jul 2003

Christine Lenihan, Chairman of NHS24 has been elected as the new Chairman of the Scottish NHS Confederation.  She succeeds Caroline Thomson the Chairman of Highland NHS Board.
Hilary Robertson, Director of the Scottish NHS Confederation said: "I would like to congratulate Christine Lenihan on her election. In her role as NHS24 Chairman she will already be familiar with many of our members and with developments in the NHS right across Scotland. The Scottish NHS Confederation has gone from strength to strength in the past three years with a 25% increase in membership and we are poised to expand our activities even further.  I look forward to working with Christine over the next two years, during what promises to be a very exiting period in the organisation's development".
Ms Robertson also paid tribute to Caroline Thomson, the retiring Chairman of the Confederation. Ms Robertson said:" Caroline worked tirelessly on behalf of the Confederation.   In particular, I would like to pay tribute to her for the support she has given me and the new Scottish Confederation team over the past three years, since the establishment of the new organisation. I wish her every success for the future."
Christine Lenihan has enjoyed a varied and successful career to date. Having trained as a nurse, she joined the pharmaceutical industry, holding various positions over 10 years but latterly as Head of UK sales and marketing for a leading American corporation.
She was appointed as Chairman of the Scottish University for Industry in 2000, which aims to encourage the people of Scotland to engage in life long learning via its learndirect scotland services. In July 2001 Christine was appointed as Chairman of NHS24, Scotland's first 24-hour nurse-led telephone advice service.