National Clinical Director; Scottish Government, Scotland

Professor Jason Leitch, CBE. Jason has worked for the Scottish Government since 2007 and in January 2015 was appointed as The National Clinical Director. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours. The National Clinical Director is responsible for quality in the health and social care system, including patient safety and person-centred care, NHS planning, and implementing quality improvement methods across the government and the broader public sector. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He was a 2005-06 Quality Improvement Fellow at IHI. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee and a Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde. Jason is a non-executive Board member of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, a Board member of The Nazareth Trust and a trustee of the Indian Rural Evangelical Fellowship (UK) which runs a children’s’ home and schools in southeast India. He qualified as a dentist in 1991 and was a Consultant Oral Surgeon in Glasgow. He has a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, a Masters in Public Health from Harvard and is a fellow of the three UK surgical Royal Colleges. Jason is an internationally recognised expert in healthcare quality. He speaks around the world and has advised Governments in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Republic of Ireland, Jordan, Canada, Brazil and South Africa. In 2020 and 2021 he was awarded the Fletcher of Saltoun award from the Saltire Society, elected to the US National Academy of Medicine and awarded an Honorary Membership of the Faculty of Public Health all for his contribution to the UK and Scottish response to the global pandemic. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he has played a key role in public health communication and engagement. He regularly featured at Scottish Government press conferences as well as public engagement on regional and national television and radio. He received praise for his ability to translate complex scientific information to the public, providing calm and clear advice