A retired firefighter and NHS non-executive director has been appointed the next Chair of Public Health Scotland.

Ally Boyle MBE will take up the role on 1 September.

Mr Boyle brings over three decades of senior leadership experience across the NHS, emergency services, and the charity sector.

As Chair of Public Health Scotland (PHS), he will play a significant leadership role as the organisation drives and evaluates progress against the new Population Health Framework.

His appointment has been welcomed by outgoing Chair Angiolina Foster CBE:

“I am delighted to welcome Ally to PHS as my successor. He will find himself working with high calibre colleagues on a very inspiring mission. His background and experience – both personal and professional – will be a huge asset to us in our work.”

Starting his career at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Mr Boyle led a Community Safety redesign prior to the merger of regional services into a single national Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).

Following a diagnosis of blood cancer in 2008, Mr Boyle went on to volunteer with Cancer Research UK, Blood Cancer UK and Anthony Nolan.

He then oversaw the formation of a formal partnership between Anthony Nolan and the SFRS – an initiative which has so far added more than 20,000 names to the stem cell donor register, and led to more than 120 lifesaving donations.

In 2018, Mr Boyle was awarded an MBE for services to charity and the fire and rescue service.

He is currently the Vice Chair of NHS Lanarkshire, where he leads the Population Health Committee, and a non-executive director of NHS Education for Scotland.

Mr Boyle says he is “absolutely delighted” to take up the role of Chair of Public Health Scotland:

“I want to acknowledge the significant contribution of Angiolina, whose leadership has helped shape the organisation’s foundations. I’m looking forward to meeting colleagues across PHS, listening to your perspectives and working together to build on this progress.

"As PHS Chair, I will ensure that we deliver on the ambitions of the Population Health Framework while playing our full part in wider public sector reform. By combining our expertise, creativity, and shared commitment, I believe we can make a real and lasting difference for our communities, working with them to improve life expectancy and health outcomes”

Mr Boyle’s appointment will be for four years until 31 August 2029.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto MSP said she looks forward to working with Mr Boyle as PHS continues to work to prevent disease, prolong healthy life and promote health and wellbeing:

“His background in public protection, community planning and partnership working is a great fit for PHS as an organisation that plays a vital leadership role across the whole system in Scotland, promoting preventative approaches and enabling change.

“He has a clear passion for prevention, early intervention and tackling health inequalities, priorities that are core to PHS and our new Population Health Framework.

“Alastair will play a significant leadership role as PHS drives and evaluates progress against that Framework, supporting a partnership approach to better understand our public health challenges and develop interventions to tackle their root causes.”

Read more: Government to merge two national NHS boards; “Relentless focus” on addressing health inequalities; 

 

 

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