A NEW director of public health has been officially appointed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Formerly the interim director, Valerie White has taken the permanent role following a formal recruitment process involving the Board, Scottish Government and Faculty of Public Health colleagues.

Valerie has worked closely with health and social care teams and resilience partners to lead the region's response to the pandemic.

Valerie said "It is a huge privilege to be appointed.

"Covid has really brought home to us that protecting and improving our populations health is everybody's business."