David Garbutt
Chair of NES Board
CBE, QPM, D.Univ, LLD, CFCIPD Chair, NHS Education for Scotland
David Garbutt has held Chief Officer roles with Lothian and Borders Police, and Grampian Police, and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the 1993 New Year Honours.
He was Assistant Inspector of Constabulary before his appointment as Director of the Scottish Police College between 1998 and 2006.
He has been a member of the Board of the Scottish Leadership Foundation and the Justice Sector Skills Council and has also served as the President of the European Police College.
David has also been an adviser on police reform and transformational change in a number of countries. He was awarded a doctorate (honoris causa) by Edinburgh Napier University in 2005 and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.
David was appointed as Chair of the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Board in April 2018, having previously served as Chair of the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) Board for a period of nine years, leading SAS through a significant programme of transformational change and the implementation of a new strategic framework to deliver enhanced patient care.
He was Chair of the NHS Chairs Group for over two years during which time he Chaired the NHS Chairs Quality Portfolio Group and implemented an extensive Quality Improvement development programme for Executive and Non-Executive Board members.
He currently Chairs the NHS National Performance Management Committee and is a member of the Leadership, Talent Management and Succession Planning Group and the Improving Wellbeing and Workforce Cultures Strategic Board. He Chairs the First Minister’s Brave@Heart Validation Panel and in 2022 was appointed as a Board Director of The Promise Scotland.
In 2025 he was awarded a doctorate (honoris causa) by the University of Strathclyde, in recognition of his leadership in the NHS and in the 2026 New Years Honours He was awarded a CBE for his services to health and social care.
