Why does no one want Scotland’s £90k patient safety job?

Applications have re-opened for a £90,000-a-year patient safety role after two previous attempts to fill the role were unsuccessful.

MSPs passed a law creating the post of Scotland's first ever Patient Safety Commissioner in September 2023.

But despite a hefty salary, they have been unable to fill the post.

The first round of interviews in April last year was unsuccessful with the cross party panel of MSPs turning down all of the candidates who were interviewed.

The second round in November saw them offer the job to one candidate but they turned it down.

The Commissioner’s role is to “advocate for the systematic improvement in the safety of health care and to promote the importance of the views of patients and other members of the public in relation to the safety of health care".

It was created in the wake of a UK Government commissioned review of the hormonal pregnancy test Primodos, Sodium Valproate in pregnancy and transvaginal surgical mesh.

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Source: The Herald, 10 February 2025