The Scottish government is reshuffling NHS senior leaders as the entire Greater Glasgow board is placed in special measures.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman is bringing in NHS Lanarkshire’s chief executive into a new role of ‘turnaround director’ to take control of ‘operational delivery’ of improvements at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

A matter of weeks after Glasgow’s management of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Children was ruled to require additional performance management, Ms Freeman has today decided to escalate the entire board’s operations, highlighting the need to address problems with scheduled care, unscheduled care, primary care out of hours, finance and culture and leadership.

Lanarkshire CEO Callum Campbell will begin his role on Monday, the Scottish Government said.

Meanwhile NHS Highland’s head Iain Stewart is moving to NHS Orkney to take over the chief executive role during the phased retirement of current chief, Gerry O’Brien.

He will be replaced on an interim basis by NHS Fife’s chief executive, Paul Hawkins.

Day-to-day running of Fife and Lanarkshire boards will be taken on by the deputy leadership teams.

Ms Freeman said the changes would “enhance leadership capacity and better align skills and experience across NHS Scotland”:

“All of us, rightly, have high expectations of our NHS and I’m focused on improving performance and delivery across the system in order to provide the best care possible for the people of Scotland.

“In order to provide additional direction and support to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde I have taken the decision to escalate the board as a whole to stage 4 of the Performance Escalation Framework. Calum Campbell as turnaround director will provide an increased level of scrutiny and intervention.

Highland health board faces a significant spending gap and must radically reform services, auditors have warned.

It has also faced the fallout of a bullying scandal and has brought in external workplace culture experts to help address concerns.