Senior Leadership Team

Alison White, Director West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership

Alison White is the Director of the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership and the Chief Officer of the West Lothian Integration Joint Board. Alison has overall responsibility for the planning and delivery of health and social care to the residents of West Lothian.

Jo McPherson, Head of Social Policy

Jo McPherson is the Head of Social Policy. Jo has responsibility for all council social work services within West Lothians Health and Social Care Partnership; the position also includes the role of Chief Social Worker.

Yvonne Lawton, Head of Service

Yvonne Lawton is Head of Service. Yvonne is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership and development of strategies that meet the healthcare needs of the West Lothian population. The Head of Service is responsible for primary care, community, and mental health services with pan Lothian hosted services of podiatry and Lothian work supported services.

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Douglas McGown, Clinical Director

Douglas McGown is the Clinical Director for HSCP. Douglas works closely with clinical staff across the partnership and plays a key role in developing primary care services. Douglas takes a leading role on clinical and care governance across the partnership promoting delivery of safe, patient centred and high quality clinical care for the residents of West Lothian.

Linda Yule, Chief Nurse

Linda Yule is the Chief Nurse for West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. She provides professional leadership guidance and support to a range of nursing teams across the partnership and works closely with senior colleagues to develop our workforce and ensure services provide safe, effective, and person-centred care to the people of West Lothian.

Fiona Huffer, Chief Allied Health Professional

Fiona Huffer is the Chief Allied Health Professional. Fiona's role is to provide governance and advisory role on allied health professionals to the senior management team and the Integrated Joint Board. Fiona is a dietitian and supports all other Allied Health Professional colleagues in West Lothian. The Health and Social Care Partnership provides physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech & language therapy, arts therapy, and dietetics along with radiography, orthopedist, orthotics, and prosthetics. They offer a broad range of allied health professional services to the population of West Lothian.

Sharon Houston, Head of Strategic Planning and Performance (Interim)

Sharon Houston is the Head of Strategic Planning and Performance and is responsible for developing the strategic direction of integrated health and social care in West Lothian. Sharon has responsibility for strategic commissioning, performance management, and working with partners and stakeholders to put plans in place for improving health and social care outcomes in the community.

Hamish Hamilton, Chief Finance Officer

Hamish Hamilton is the Chief Finance Officer for West Lothian Integrated Joint Board. Hamish is responsible for the proper administration of the Integrated Joint Board financial administration and management including the annual budget process, budget monitoring, and financial planning for relevant health and social care services. He is also responsible for preparing the Integrated Joint Board final accounts in compliance with relevant legislation and accounting requirements.

Susan Mitchell, Senior Manager Social Policy

Susan Mitchell is one of the Senior Social Policy Managers. Susan is responsible for practice teams including cared for and looked after children and the child disability services. As part of her role Susan has responsibility for the overseeing of childcare protection and protection and emergency services in social policy.

Pauline Cochrane, Senior Manager Social Policy

Pauline Cochrane is the Senior Social Policy Manager for Justice and Looked After Children. Pauline has the responsibility for all matters in social work relating to justice and also jointly manages children and families. As a part of Paulines leadership role she chairs the Gender-Based Violence Committee and the Community Justice Partnership.

Karen Love, Senior Manager Social Policy 

Karen Love is a Senior Social Policy Manager. Karen is responsible for a range of services relating to adult services, occupational therapy, and housing with care services. Karen is also involved in the strategic planning of Adult Support and Protection and is a member of the Adult Support and Protection Committee as well as chair of the Quality Assurance Sub-Committee.

Rob Allen, Senior Manager Social Policy

Rob Allen is the Senior Social Policy Manager for Older People services. Rob manages a range of services relating to older adults and is responsible for setting direction for older people's services social work and social care services within the Health and Social Care Partnership.

Neil Ferguson, General Manager Primary Care and Community Services

Neil Ferguson is the General Manager responsible for primary care and community services in West Lothian. He is accountable for service modernisation and delivery of a range of primary care and community services including those based within the hospital. He is also responsible for services related to unscheduled care.

Mike Reid, General Manager for Mental Health and Addictions

Mike Reid started in October 2021 as General Manager for Mental Health and Addictions along with Community Physiotherapy and the Podiatry service for NHS Lothian. He is an experienced mental health nurse and has worked in health and social care for 30 years in both the NHS and Health and Social Care Partnerships. His focus is on improving services with the people who use and work in them.

Carol Holmes, Lead Pharmacist

Carol Holmes is the Lead Pharmacist for the primary care pharmacy teams working with GP practices in West Lothian. Carol works closely with the pharmacy leads at St Johns Hospital and for community pharmacy as well as pharmacy primary care leads for other Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure we're coordinating work.

Claire Ross, Head of Podiatry

Claire Ross is the Head of Podiatry for NHS Lothian. Podiatry is a single system service, hosted by West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. Our goal is to improve the foot health of the communities we serve. This involves prevention, protection, and prioritisation across our pathways.