NHS Board
NON EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS
Mark Cook Chair
Mark Cook has spent over 35 years in roles within the health and life science sector. He co-chairs the Life Sciences Industrial Leadership Group in Scotland, working closely with the NHS, Academia and Industry with the goal of benefitting Scotland through economic growth, health improvement and internationalisation. In the public sector Mark chairs the Scottish Public Pensions Authority Teachers Board. Commercially and in the public sector Mark is an advocate for good governance and has chaired boards, undertaken consulting roles, supported life science companies, worked in sectors like pharmaceuticals, health and medical technologies, pensions and EPSRC research groups. He is passionate about Scotland’s Health Service and contributing to the Board’s work in ensuring that it continues to deliver a high quality service to its population.
Marsali Caig
Marsali Caig was born and brought up in Kirkcudbright. Following legal training at university and Law School in England she worked in Whitehall for a number of years supporting Health Ministers and the Secretary of State for Health with developing their policy portfolios and parliamentary health & social care business in the House of Commons; this included assisting with speech-writing and attending Health Questions. She gained significant experience of communications, virtual project management and rapid turnaround of work, as well as building comprehensive knowledge and experience of stakeholder management, analysis, policy development and inter-departmental working (such as the Sure Start programme). She also worked with Special Advisers to the Secretary of State for Health to ensure health policy developments were communicated effectively and timeously to the House of Commons.
She returned to her native Dumfries & Galloway and worked in a number of positions in the early days of Joint Strategic Planning & Commissioning between the NHS and Local Authority before moving to work in Cumbria, leading on a range of areas including business development, development of clinical care pathways, a turnaround Programme focused primarily on organisational culture and governance, and a major financial recovery programme.
She has been a Trustee of the local charity Food Train, and is currently Chair of Dumfries & Galloway Citizens Advice Service.
Marsali is passionate about values based leadership and organisational culture. She has considerable personal experience of health services.
She was initially appointed in 2020 by the Scottish Government as a Whistleblowing lead NED following the Sturrock Report and recommendation, before becoming Vice Chair in 2023 and more recently taking on the role of Interim Chair since August 2024.
Dr Greg Black
Dr Greg Black has a background in physics and engineering as well as project management, risk and assurance. He has worked in the radioactive substances industry for a number of years including both the private and public sectors, most recently as a Senior Regulator and Advisor.
Greg has experience of leading and delivering large and complex projects, managing risk and financial performance. As a regulator he has experience of auditing on behalf of the public to ensure that organisations’ manage risks to the public and the environment and scrutinising their governance arrangements.
Garry Forsyth
Garry Forsyth retired from policing in 2023 following a career in six different forces around the UK. He was one of the UKs Counter Terror Commanders, and a highly experienced Gold Commander for Public Order, Firearms and CBRN. He was one of the Gold Commanders for the Olympic Games and for the riots in 2011 and has an excellent understanding of managing risk. He also has extensive experience in leading large scale change and transformation programmes in three different forces over 10 years which have consistently delivered substantial savings at the same time as improving performance and operational delivery for the public. Garry is passionate about public service, fairness and organisational culture and was awarded the Kings Police Medal in 2023 for distinguished services to policing.
Kim Dams
Kim Dams’ career covers the private and voluntary sector in a wide range of leadership roles, including in finance, risk, compliance and data management. Kim has extensive experience in good governance of boards, risk committees, finance committees and audit committees and has chaired several Board sub committees.
She brings experience in leading and overseeing organisational change, governance in fast developing organisations and of the operational delivery of customer services.
Kim is passionate about rights-based, person-centred and value driven policies, focussing on people-led decision-making, community engagement, equality, human rights and the intersectionality of rural issues.
Gwilym Gibbons
Gwilym Gibbons is a social-value creative leader, producer, Lifeboat Crew Member, and former Park Ranger. He has been Chief Executive of The Crichton Trust a social enterprise in Dumfries since April 2018, where he is leading a bold vision for a new way to work, live, study and play – cross-generational, age-friendly and adaptive, low carbon and tech-enabled while staying highly socially connected. Gwilym was previously Chief Executive of Horsecross Arts, where he led the Perth Concert Hall team and the £16m redevelopment of the historic Perth Theatre. For eight years prior he was the first Director of Shetland Arts, in which capacity he spearheaded the development and construction of the award-winning Mareel, the UK’s most northerly cinema and music venue. As a social entrepreneur Gwilym holds several non-executive roles including Chair/Co-founder of the Future Economy Company and Chair of Tourbook CIC. Gwilym is co-chair South of Scotland SCDI and a former Board Member of Creative Scotland.
Self-educated while growing up in communes throughout the UK, after two experimental years in school, Gwilym found his way into the arts through a youth arts project in Milton Keynes, beginning his career as a freelance drama and circus workshop leader and street theatre performer. Gwilym is a Fellow of RSA, Chartered Fellow of Chartered Management Institute and was awarded in 2014 an Honorary Fellowship of University of Highland and Islands for his contribution to arts and education.
HEALTH BOARD EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS
Julie White Chief Executive
Dr Ken Donaldson Medical Director
Vacant - Director of Finance
Valerie White Director of Public Health
Valerie White is Director of Public Health (DPH) at NHS Dumfries and Galloway. Valerie qualified from Glasgow University as a dentist in 2001 and worked in clinical roles in general dental practice, hospital and community settings in the UK and Australia before returning to the UK to undertake further training in Dental Public Health in the North East of England and East of Scotland. During her training in Dental Public Health Valerie completed the Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, a Masters in Public Health at the University of Glasgow and Diploma in Dental Public Health at the Royal College of Surgeons England. Valerie took up her first Consultant post in Dental Public Health at NHS Dumfries and Galloway in 2010, before moving into the DPH role in 2019 initially as Interim DPH taking up the substantive role in 2021. Valerie is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Valerie is passionate about promotion of good health for all and has a specific interest around collaborative and partnership working to address the wider determinants of health, in particular in relation to tackling poverty and inequality.
OTHER REPRESENTATIVES
Martyn McAdam Chair Area Clinical Forum
Vicky Keir Employee Director
Linda Dorward - Local Authority
Linda has worked in the public sector for her entire career, benefitting from both front-line delivery and Senior Leadership experience. Trained as a psychiatric nurse, she ended her NHS career as a Senior Charge Nurse in Acute Psychiatric Admissions, for Fife Health Board.
Moving to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as a Nurse Manager she completed her career as the Prison Governor in HMP Dumfries. In a justice sector career spanning 26yrs, she gained extensive experience in leading, managing and motivating teams to achieve corporate objectives and cultural change. As a SPS Programme lead she delivered significant healthcare focussed, legislatively driven, change projects, working with Scottish Government and both Regional and Special Health Boards, to transfer responsibility for Health Care provision from SPS to NHS Health Boards and to Make all Prisons in Scotland Smoke Free. In a prison setting she has worked across a range of establishments as a highly trained and experienced operational tactician, managing contingencies and risk, financial performance, meeting strategic objectives and delivering positive inspection reports from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons.
Throughout her career her main motivation has always been to make a positive difference to the lives of people she works with and for and to ensure their voices are heard. As an Elected Member, since 2022, this ethos has been retained for her Constituents, residents across the region, local authority colleagues and external partners.
She is currently a board member of the Robert Burns Ellisland Farm Trust, D&G Alcohol and Drugs Partnership and Alcohol and Drugs Services SW Scotland, a Local Authority Voting Member of the Integrated Joint Board, and a Non-Executive Director of Sleeping Giants.