Caroline Lamb

DG Health and Social Care and Chief Executive NHS Scotland, Scottish Government

A woman with short brown hair, wearing a dog-toothed jacket, sitting against a red sofa.

Caroline was appointed as DG Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland in January 2021.

Caroline joined the Scottish Government in December 2019 to lead the Digital Health and Care Directorate. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, Caroline took on a number of different roles. In March 2020, she led on our ICU surge requirements; and from May 2020 she became Portfolio Director for Test and Protect, working with colleagues from across the system to establish our arrangements for contact tracing, and providing support for isolation. In August 2020 she became Delivery Director for the Extended Seasonal Flu and Covid-19 vaccination programmes.

Caroline trained as a Chartered Accountant in London. After qualifying she came to Scotland and worked first in housing and then in higher education. Caroline joined the NHS in 2004, as Director of Finance and Corporate Resources for NHS Education for Scotland (NES). NES is one of the national NHS Boards with responsibility for training, education and workforce development. Caroline led the Digital Transformation at NES, and was appointed as Chief Executive in 2015. In 2017 she was appointed by Scottish Government to represent National Boards as National Implementation Lead for the Health & Social Care Delivery Plan. In this role she worked closely with Scottish Government and the 3 Regional Implementation Leads.