A public health leader who suggested doctors should take a pay cut to help reduce health inequalities has retired from Scotland’s biggest health board.
Dr Linda de Caestecker has been praised for her “passionate” efforts to improve the life chances of people living in Glasgow’s most deprived areas.
Her annual report in 2009 year noted that a 15-year-old boy in a deprived area of the city had only a 50% chance of reaching his 60th birthday, while for his counterpart in a more affluent area the chance was 90%.
Jane Grant, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said Dr de Caestecker had led significant public health improvements over her 16-year tenure as Director of Public Health.
She was an early supporter of a minimum pricing policy for alcohol, which was introduced by the Scottish Government in May 2018 and was credited for a decline in consumption. A firm believer that good child health starts at conception, she also led initiatives which aimed to keep mothers well during pregnancy.
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She was preparing to retire in 2020 when Covid struck and remained in post to lead Glasgow’s response to the pandemic.
In 2009, Dr de Caestecker courted controversy in her own profession by saying society would benefit if the medical profession was paid less.
She told The Herald that doctors, including herself, should consider a reduction in salary and stop demanding significant pay increases every year and suggested pay inequalities could help solve Scotland’s entrenched health problems.
Asked if she would be willing to sacrifice some of her own income, Dr de Caestecker said: “I suppose the simple answer is yes, if it was done in a fair and transparent way and was about redistributing income across the pay scales between the well-off and less-well-off.”
The earning power of doctors became particularly controversial after new contracts boosted salaries while cutting working hours in 2004.
A graduate of the University of Glasgow, Dr de Caestecker originally trained as an obstetrician and gynaecologist but 30 years of her career were spent in public health and she joined NHSGGC in 2006.
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In 1977, while studying at the University of Glasgow, she noticed a street sign for The Leprosy Mission Scotland. She asked whether the charity ever needed trainee doctors to volunteer abroad and she spent that summer volunteering in a hospital in Karigari in the south of India.
She said of her experience: “Not only had I never been to a country like that before, but I was also young and had never before seen such shocking disabilities like those that come from leprosy.”
Jane Grant said: “Linda has been hugely passionate about tackling various issues related to her line of work, including deprivation, health inequalities and women and children’s health and rights.
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“Linda and her team have delivered a significant number of public health and health improvement interventions over the past 16 years to benefit the health of the people of Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“When Glasgow played host to not only one but two major international events – the Commonwealth Games and COP 26, Linda led her team to provide the city and the organisers with expert public health advice and outbreak management. Linda was preparing to retire when Covid struck.
“Whilst very few could have been prepared for an unprecedented global pandemic, Linda’s experience and expertise made her more qualified than most to lead the charge in NHSGGC’s response to Covid-19, keeping the people protected, informed and assured.
“We wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement.”
Following Dr de Caestecker’s retirement, Dr Emilia Crighton has been appointed interim director of public health for the board.
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