NHS Lanarkshire is pleased to announce the appointment of two new non-executive Board members.
Lesley McDonald and Alastair (Ally) Boyle MBE have both been appointed by the Scottish Government through its public appointments process to the Board of NHS Lanarkshire.
Lesley is one of a number of NHS Scotland non-executive whistleblowing champion board members who has been appointed with a specific role in having oversight of the processes and support available for staff who raise concerns under whistleblowing.
Lesley has spent 25 years in the Western Isles in various roles. As head of executive office at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, she had responsibility for legal services, democratic services, community planning, corporate policy and members’ services. She was also the Comhairle’s monitoring officer, clerk to the licensing board, clerk to the Comhairle and standards officer for Cùram is Slainte nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Integrated Joint Board).
Ally joined the Fire and Rescue Service in 1993 and led the team working on community safety during the process that saw the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. He quickly rose through the ranks and held many senior positions across the West of Scotland. He was the area commander in charge of several different local authority areas, including South Lanarkshire. Prior to the reform of Scottish Fire and Rescue Services he was the head of community safety for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and a member of the corporate management team.
Ally was awarded an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to charity.
Ally will join NHS Lanarkshire as a non-executive director elect until he becomes a formal voting member of the Board on 1 April.
Welcoming the new non-executive Board members to their roles, NHS Lanarkshire chair Neena Mahal said: “I am delighted that Lesley and Ally are joining the Board of NHS Lanarkshire. They both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience and will be a great asset to the Board.”
Lesley McDonald biography:
Lesley graduated from Glasgow University in 1989 and worked as a solicitor in private practice in Glasgow before moving to the public sector by taking up a post as solicitor for the then Comhairle nan Eilean in 1993.
Since her retirement in 2018, Lesley has become a volunteer with Clydesdale Foodbank and a legal services charity which represents people who may otherwise not obtain access to legal advice, reflecting her concern for the most vulnerable in society. In her role as carer for her father, she has gained first-hand experience of the challenges and opportunities of health and social care integration.
Alastair (Ally) Boyle MBE biography:
Ally has been involved in protecting the public for all of his career. He has a particular expertise in community planning and partnership working, which saw him work with internal and external stakeholders, successfully reducing the risk to communities.
Ally was diagnosed with a blood cancer in 2008 and, for the last 12 years, has been treated for his cancer by NHS Lanarkshire. As a result of this diagnosis, he established a partnership between the Fire and Rescue Service and the charity Anthony Nolan. The partnership has volunteers across Scotland who go to secondary schools to educate young people about stem cell, blood and organ donation. He is also an advocate of patient and public involvement and is a volunteer member of Cancer Research UK’s cancer insights panel.
