THURSDAY JUNE 12th 2025

Beth Sage

Director of Research, Development and Innovation,
Consultant in Respiratory Medicine and Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen

Beth has been Director of Research Development and Innovation at NHS Highlands since 2020. She sees the division as playing a vital role in transforming health outcomes for people throughout the Highlands and ensuring equality of access to clinical research and innovative healthcare solutions.

Gordon Marnoch

Researcher and Author

Gordon Marnoch held academic positions at several universities, including the University of Aberdeen and Ulster University, until his retirement in 2022. In Northern Ireland, he served as Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at Ulster and collaborated with the Health and Social Care Leadership Centre to deliver a postgraduate management development program for clinicians and social workers.

During his tenure at Aberdeen, Gordon led multiple research projects focusing on innovation in primary care, clinical leadership, and healthcare management. He also directed a multidisciplinary primary care leadership program on behalf of the Scottish Government. In the early years of the Scottish Parliament, he advised the Health and Community Care Committee on their inquiry into the delivery of community care.

As a researcher, Gordon has published books on healthcare management and over 50 academic articles, including a study on the bed-blocking issue in Scotland, published 25 years ago. He lives in Aberdeen and continues as an active researcher and author.

Neil McNamara

Clinical Director, Mental Health, Learning Disability & DARS, Consultant Psychiatrist (Rehabilitation), NHSH

Neil is a consultant psychiatrist in rehabilitation and clinical director for adult mental health services in the Highland HSCP. He trained in Edinburgh and worked across the south east of Scotland before moving to the Highlands 20 years ago. His main area of clinical interest has always been in the care and support of people affected by psychosis. He makes no claims to be an established academic researcher but has been fortunate to develop partnerships with others and has some time dedicated to providing a clinical perspective to the Causes Of Schizophrenia: Immunology & Genetics Network (COS:IGN), based at the UHI. The intention of this project has been to draw a link between plausible pathways contributing to the development of illness and future interventions which may make a difference in real world settings.

There is an increasing focus on the health inequalities faced by people with psychosis (including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity) and exploring how to make an impact on this in our remote and rural setting. Neil will offer a personal perspective on challenges in supporting mental health research and future opportunities to collaborate across our services.

Dr Jo Cecil

School of Medicine, Population and Behavioural Sciences, University of St Andrews

Jo Cecil is a behavioural scientist and lecturer in the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews. She has research interests in consumption behaviour, obesity, healthcare communication and wellbeing. Her research aligns directly with interest in health behaviour interventions and the interface of the healthcare practitioner and patient, and follows an interdisciplinary approach, straddling psychological, behavioural and physiological domains.

She has expertise in mixed methods research methodology and has led external funded research as Principal and Co-Investigator. Jo has served as a member of the Program Committee and Board of Directors for the Society of Ingestive Behaviour, the Implementation Group for UK UGRAD Nutrition in Medical Education, the Scottish Nutrition Committee and acts as external examiner for MSc, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education at the University of Edinburgh.

Frances Matthewson

Research and Intelligence Specialist, Public Health Team, NHS Highland

Frances has worked mainly as a data analyst within the NHS in Scotland for over thirty years. Within NHS Highland, her roles have covered Service Planning and Redesign and she currently works as Research and Intelligence Specialist for the Highland Alcohol and Drugs Partnership which is hosted by the Department of Public Health. Her interests in Mental Health were established early on in her career undertaking data developments in Public Health Scotland, research on suicide rates in NHS Highland and through her work as a National Improvement Advisor on a Mental Health Improvement Programme within the Scottish Government.

Recent research interests have centred around understanding the context of young people’s drug-related deaths in Highland. Frances is keen to work with partners to develop research areas which aid understanding and result in improvements to reducing harms and deaths from alcohol and other drugs. She has recently undertaken studies in Public Health and has enjoyed refreshing her programming language skills in R and Python.

Bev Fraser

Strategic Lead for Drug and Alcohol Recovery Services (DARS), NHS Highland

Bev has experience working within drug and alcohol and mental health services, focusing on service development through identification and analysis, and addressing areas for improvement. Her expertise lies in quality improvement methodology, which she believes is integral to enhancing the quality of care for patients within NHS Highland. By promoting the philosophy that quality improvement is everyone's responsibility, she aims to foster a culture of continuous improvement that will lead to better patient outcomes and an improved experience for both patients and staff.

Bev is a registered mental health nurse (RMN) and holds a PG Cert in Quality Improvement in Health care. She qualified in 1994 and has always worked within mental health services. She has worked collaboratively with other health boards within Scotland.

Carol Calder

Finance and Performance, Audit Director, Performance Audit and Best Value, Audit Scotland

Carol has over 30 years’ experience in the Scottish public sector. She joined Audit Scotland in 2003 following a career in strategic planning in Local Government. Having previously overseen the Local Services portfolio since 2007, she has been Audit Director for Health and Social Care since June 2024. She is responsible for overseeing the delivery of a programme of performance audits in health and social care including the annual NHS Overview report.

Bernie Milligan

Audit Manager, NHS overview reports, Audit Scotland

Bernie has 25 years’ experience in the public and third sectors in Scotland, working in policy, research and project management roles. She joined Audit Scotland in 2019 and has led on audits in health, local government and digital transformation. As Audit Manager she managed the delivery of the NHS in Scotland Report 2024, the Spotlight report on Governance in the NHS in Scotland and is now working on the NHS overview report for 2025.