Dr Lynne Douglas

Dr Lynne Douglas will take the reins after Mr Logan stepped down following nine years in the role to take up a new challenge as chief executive of Capability Scotland.

A highly-regarded and hugely experienced senior leader, Dr Douglas has held the role of director of Allied Health in NHS Lothian since 2007.

Her current role includes professional and strategic responsibility for the NHS Lothian’s adult and children’s Allied Health Professionals, which has a £74 million strategic budget, while her portfolio overall focuses on the interfacing of social care, education and third sector organisations to deliver improved outcomes for the public.

She also drove forward two pioneering NHS strategies – Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care and Falls Prevention and Bone Health Strategy – which have been credited, in particular, with significantly improving the wellbeing of older people in Lothian.

One of her principal roles will be to implement Bield’s five-year business strategy which aims to position it as the leading provider of affordable, quality homes and services for Scotland’s older generation.

Dr Douglas, who takes up her post in November, said: “I am delighted to be joining Bield at this exciting point in its history. The mission statement and values of Bield resonate with me strongly.

“I am looking forward to engaging with tenants and working closely with staff to implement the business strategy and to further develop our services.”

As well as holding a number of senior positions throughout her career, Dr Douglas has also travelled as a sports dietician for Team GB supporting the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, one of the first dieticians to travel with the GB Sports Science team.

Susan Napier, chair of Bield’s board of management, said: “Lynne stood out from a very strong field of applicants and we are convinced that she will further develop our organisation, providing strategic leadership at a time of transformational change for us.

“The board and the senior management team are very much looking forward to welcoming Lynne to Bield, and working in partnership to meet our ambitions for the future as we continue to improve the quality of life for older people in Scotland.”

Bield was founded nearly 50 years ago with one housing development in Bo’ness and is now a major provider of a wide range of housing and services for around 20,000 older people across 23 local authorities.

It announced in October 2017 it was to withdraw from all registered care home provision to consolidate its housing and support services. The move included the closure of 12 of its care homes and a decommissioning of housing support activity in its Very Sheltered Housing.

Bield now plans to grow over the next five years by developing more flexibility into the care it provides and tailoring it to people’s bespoke needs by providing access to new technology, improving its meal service and building upon its home care offering.