Jason Andrew Leitchis the National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government.
He is a Senior Clinical Advisor to the Scottish Government and a member of the Health and Social Care Management Board. Leitch provided key leadership throughout the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been praised for his ability to translate complex scientific information to the public, providing calm and clear advice.
Career
Clinical
Leitch completed a number of training jobs in the West of Scotland prior to becoming a Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Oral Surgery at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School.
Scottish Government
Leitch has worked for the Scottish Government since 2007 when he joined as the National Clinical Lead for Safety and Improvement. This was followed by roles as the National Clinical Lead for Quality; the Clinical Director of the Quality Unit and he is now the National Clinical Director in the Health and Social Care Directorate.
Leitch was part of the senior team who conceived, designed and led the Scottish Patient Safety Programme.
Responsibilities
Leitch is a member of the Health and Social Care Management Board and one of the senior team responsible for implementation of the NHS Scotland Quality Strategy.
Leitch is responsible for quality in the health and social care system, including patient safety and person-centred care, NHS planning, and implementing quality improvement methods across the government and the broader public sector. He is a member of the Transformational Change as well as the Performance Boards at the Scottish Government.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Leitch has played a key role in public health communication and engagement. He regularly featured at Scottish Government press conferences as well as public engagement on regional and national television and radio. He received praise for his ability to translate complex scientific information to the public, providing calm and clear advice. He regularly featured on shows like Off the Ball to answer questions submitted by members of the public. In March 2020 he assessed that it was impossible to suppress the virus, that 80% of the population becoming infected was inevitable, and that all that could be done was to smooth the epidemic out over a lengthy period of time, so not to overwhelm the health services too much. On 10 March Leitch told Scots: "Go about your business as normal, pick up your kids from school, hug your granny, go shopping and don’t buy too much soap because everybody needs some.”
