Julie Paterson - chief executive

Julie Paterson was appointed chief executive of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland in August 2020. Julie’s first degree was in psychology before completing her Masters in social work. Julie qualified as a mental health officer in 1997 and worked across a range of operational and managerial roles within the social work service prior to becoming head of Adult Social Work Services and designated Chief Social Work Officer. Prior to joining the Commission she had been a senior manager in health and social care for five years retaining responsibility for adult social work services and also leadership and transformation across a diverse range of health services including NHS children’s services, health promotion, mental health, learning disability, psychology and addiction services. 

Ashley Dee - head of culture and corporate services

Ashley’s background is in law and his experience spans leadership and governance roles. He’s an experienced solicitor, dual qualified in both the England & Wales and Scotland jurisdictions, and has worked for a large law firm, a UK government inquiry and the SSSC. He has 11 years’ experience at an international medical defence organisation progressing into leadership roles where he managed large multi-disciplinary teams. Whilst there, Ashley acquired significant strategic change experience and - more latterly – led a governance function responsible for managing global third party supplier risk and performance.

Julie O'Neill - business change and improvement manager

Julie joined the Commission in December 2021 as our new business change & improvement manager from the NHS where she had work for 28 years. Julie started her career as office manager then moved into a variety of roles including quality co-ordinator, clinical effectiveness facilitator in mental health services, clinical governance lead within a community health partnership, business manager within a health & social care partnership and more recently her role prior to starting at the Commission was as a service manager within public health.

Claire Lamza - executive director (nursing)

Claire joined the Commission in 2017 as a nursing officer. She then became one of the first senior managers in the organisation, before her recent appointment in 2022 as executive director (nursing). Claire has held a number of clinical and operational roles across a range of healthcare settings prior to joining the Commission. She has maintained an interest in specific areas such as forensic mental health and rehabilitation. As the most senior professional nurse within the Commission, Claire has worked with the Royal College of Nursing as a forum chair and more recently on the RCN Board (Scotland); she is also co-chair of the Mental Health Nurses Forum (Scotland).

Suzanne McGuinness - executive director (social work)

Suzanne joined the Commission in 2021 as executive director (social work). Suzanne studied law and then social work. She has experience of working in legal roles, in prisons and across a number of roles in a large health and social care partnership area, most recently as the professional social work lead for the partnership reporting to the director. Suzanne has a keen interest in the law and rights-based practice and has experience of working with people of all ages in the community in both statutory and third sector organisations, in addition to working with people within prisons and people affected by imprisonment in the community. 

John Crichton - executive director (medical)

Dr John Crichton joined the Commission in 2025. John is an experienced forensic psychiatrist and medical leader with over two decades of clinical and policy expertise. He has served as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and played a central role in developing Scotland’s forensic mental health services. His contributions include authoring the Forensic Mental Health Blueprint and designing the Matrix of Security Framework—both of which have shaped national standards of care.

John has held a range of senior leadership roles including within the Royal College of Psychiatrists, including Chair of RCPsych in Scotland and, most recently, Treasurer. In these roles, he led national campaigns to improve mental health services, championed the rights of people subject to mental health legislation, and helped shape policy on a wide range of issues.

John is an Honorary Professor at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh and has contributed to major Scottish Government reviews on mental health and capacity law and is widely recognised for his commitment to advancing human rights, ethical practice, and systemic improvement across mental health care.