A NEW chief executive has been appointed to steer troubled health board NHS Lothian through its waiting times crisis and beyond.
Tim Davison, who took over on an interim basis after the sudden retirement of Professor James Barbour earlier this year, has now been given the job permanently.
Announcing the decision yesterday, board chairman Dr Charles Winstanley said Mr Davison had "a firm grasp" of the issues affecting the service.
He said: "This is one of the biggest jobs in the NHS in Scotland and Tim has a lot of hard work ahead of him but I am confident that he is the right person to help take NHS Lothian forward."
Concerns were raised about health board staff manipulating waiting lists to hit Government targets last year. An investigation into this sparked a further probe into allegations of bullying and Professor Barbour left just before this report was published.
Now the true picture of NHS Lothian waiting lists has emerged the board is battling to deal with a backlog of patients.
Mr Davison said his top priority was to sort out this problem and ensure patients were treated as quickly and efficiently as possible.
He continued: "The management styles and culture [at NHS Lothian] have been heavily criticised but there is ongoing work on those matters. Everybody I have met wants to rebuild the reputation of NHS Lothian and have it recognised throughout Scotland and beyond for delivering excellent standards of care for patients."
Eddie Egan, vice-chairman of NHS Lothian and employee director, said: "Morale has been very low across the board for some months now and I am sure Tim will have a positive impact on that as we go forward."
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