26 QMYOU / Where are you now ?
Dietetics graduate becomes Associate Chief Health Professions Officer with Scottish Government
WE WERE DELIGHTED to welcome Tracy MacInnes , a Dietetics graduate , back to QMU when she accompanied Shirley Ann Somerville MSP , Minister for Further Education , Higher Education and Science , on a recent visit .
We took the opportunity to catch up with Tracy and find out about her interesting career in healthcare , and her more recent advisory role with the Scottish Government .
Having graduated from Queen Margaret College in 1986 , Tracy MacInnes held several dietetics and healthcare roles in hospitals and healthcare organisations across the UK before moving to the Scottish Government in 2009 where she now works as Associate Chief Health Professions Officer .
She started her first job at Stoke Royal Infirmary which was a rotational basic grade post so covered renal , paeds and community , which provided her with a really solid platform to build on . She then went to Stafford District General and worked as the Senior 1 , dealing again with a complex and varied workload within primary and secondary care .
Tracy returned to Scotland in 1992 and was successful in getting the Renal Dietetic post at the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow . She explained : “ This was my first experience of working outside of a dietetic department and within a wider multi-professional team , where I began to extend my scope of practice .
“ My last dietetic post was as the Chief Dietitian within the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow . I then moved to work as the Senior Professional Advisor at the Care Inspectorate and had responsibility for the regulation of independent hospital and hospices in Scotland .
Tracy explained : “ This is where my interest in integration started as I lead teams of officers who had professional backgrounds from education , social care police and health .”
Tracy was awarded the IBEX Award for Professional Achievement in 2003 by the BDA , In 2005 , she completed a Masters in Healthcare Management at Strathclyde University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Services Leadership from Robert Gordon University .
When asked about a typical day in her current position with the Scottish Government , Tracey said : “ My role is to support and advise any Minister and other colleagues from within Scottish Government in respect to Allied Health and Healthcare Science . This helps ensure they have the most up to date information to hand . It involves supporting the ministers at external visits , conferences and face to face meetings with stakeholders . The team I work within leads on Allied Health Professions and HCS policy development and supports implementation at service level .”
“ My role is to support and advise any Minister and other colleagues from within Scottish Government in respect to Allied Health and Healthcare Science . This helps ensure they have the most up to date information to hand .”
Discussing the future of the dietetics profession in Scotland and the UK , Tracey confirmed : “ I believe that dietetics has a huge role in addressing the health and social care of our population . This is throughout the life curve , from conception right through to last stages of someone ’ s ’ life . Dietitians should be leading the way with consistent public health messages .” ❒
26 QMYOU / Where are you now ?