This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Deputy Chief Medical Officer
11/12/2003
Professor Peter Donnelly has been appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Scottish Executive.
He succeeds Dr Andrew Fraser, who has moved to a new post as Head of Health for the Scottish Prison Service.
Professor Donnelly, became one of the Britain's youngest directors of public health when he was appointed to that post at the Iechyd Morgannwg Health in South Wales in 1996.
There he triggered much interest with an innovative approach to engaging the wider public through the production of attractive and accessible annual public health reports.
As director, he published one such report as a novel - Bethan's Story - written from the perspective of a teenage girl facing an unplanned pregnancy and living in a family facing a variety of health problems. He also co-founded Heartstart Cardiff and the Vale which became one of Europe's largest community cardiac resuscitation training schemes.
Professor Donnelly brought the same approach to his current post as Director of Public Health and Health Policy at NHS Lothian. His work there included championing projects to tackle accidental injuries in children, unplanned teenage pregnancy and smoking in expectant mothers.
Peter Donnelly, 40, was born in Bangor, North Wales, and educated at Perth Academy, where he was head boy, and Edinburgh University where he graduated in medicine in 1985.
Much of his subsequent career has focused on bridging the gap between public health as an academic discipline and as an NHS service.
Postgraduate studies in public health and management followed at University of Wales College of Medicine, Stirling and Harvard universities and Edinburgh where he is now an honorary Professor of Public Health.
He is a past President of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health and is currently Vice President of the Faculty of Public Health.
Professor Donnelly said: "I am very much looking forward to working with talented colleagues in this new post. We face many challenges in terms of achieving a long term and sustainable improvement to the health of all Scots.
"Developing closer links between universities and the NHS and sharing of research and practical expertise is a big step on the road to achieving this"
Chief Medical Officer Dr Mac Armstrong said: "I welcome Professor Donnelly's appointment. He brings to the post a very impressive track record in the field of public health and I am sure he will continue to make a substantial contribution in the future."
The Chief Medical Officer is the Scottish Executive's principal medical
adviser and has two deputies: Dr Aileen Keel, who has responsibility for NHS issues including mental health and Professor Donnelly who will be responsible for public health issues. He is expected to take up his new post in February 2004.