Set to lead the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, he joins with a great depth of experience and a fantastic record as the assistant chief officer at the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership.

Pat Togher said: “I am honoured to be appointed to this position and mindful of the enormous responsibility to ensure that health and social care services in Edinburgh are delivered to the highest standard and suited to people’s needs. I am committed to improving services across the city, ensuring faster and more effective early intervention, combating health inequalities and look forward to working with team.”

Pat has led Glasgow HSCP’s work on public protection and complex needs, supporting the chief officer on strategy development, transformation and the management and delivery of Glasgow City HSCP’s Homelessness, Emergency Social Work and Justice Services across the city.

He has held strategic responsibility for child/adult protection and multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). More recently Pat led on the implementation of Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Connect providing a single point of access to the HSCP and overseen the development of Glasgow’s Complex Needs Service for those experiencing multiple disadvantage.

He began his career in 1998 working in Addiction Services initially in East Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire before starting his management career within a third sector alcohol and drug service. He moved to Glasgow in 2003 working in Community Addiction Teams and then managing Children’s Services. In 2014, Pat commenced his role as Head of Service in North-East Glasgow, initially holding responsibility for area team Social Work Services before the establishment of Glasgow City HSCP.

In 2018, his role was further extended to include Glasgow Children’s residential care establishments, which assumed responsibility for all 20 children’s units I the city. Pat was appointed into his most recent role of assistant chief officer, public protection and complex needs in 2019.

Katharina Kasper, chair of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, said: “I am delighted to welcome Pat to this important position as an established leader with a record of achieving results. He will take the Partnership forward in implementing its ambitious new plan to improve care for the people of Edinburgh and I look forward to working with him to deliver for the people of Edinburgh.”

Interim chief officer Mike Massaro-Mallinson will continue in his role ahead of a start date being set for Pat.