Nick Morris succeeds Phil Jones and is delighted to take on the post and keen to work with the NHS board and its partners to address health and social care challenges locally. He said: “While I approach this role confident in the knowledge that this is a top performing board which leads a fantastic workforce, it is also with a very great awareness of the significant health care challenges we continue to face as a region in both the short and long term. That is why I’m very keen to see the board work closely and effectively with our partner agencies, continuing to build on already excellent relationships, as it is through this joined-up approach that we will be best placed to meet the changing needs of an increasingly ageing population and work to address health inequalities across the region.”
Nick, who lives in Gatehouse of Fleet with his wife, began his career as a psychiatric nurse, specialising in acute care before moving into community mental health care within a social services environment. He has also worked in strategic planning roles in mental health care and highlighting a particular area of interest, Nick said: “I’m a passionate advocate for the integration of health and social care services where opportunities exist to simplify the journey of care – especially for vulnerable people with complex care needs.”
He was a member of the board for the last eight months prior to his appointment by the Scottish Government and is now excited about taking the reins, adding: “I’m keen to get started in this post at this very exciting but challenging time. I look forward to working with everyone across the health care services in our region to help ensure we are well placed to meet both our immediate challenges and those which lie ahead.”
Commenting, NHS Dumfries and Galloway chief executive Jeff Ace said: “Phil Jones was an outstanding chair, and a tough act to follow, but I’m confident that Nick will continue his legacy of first class strategic leadership.”
