EAST Lothian’s chief nurse is taking on the role of interim director of health and social care in the county for the next six months.

Alison Macdonald has been appointed to replace David Small, who left the post last month to take up a new role as director of primary care transition with NHS Lothian.

Alison has worked with East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership for five years and has been head of service for older people and access since 2015.

She said: “David has left the partnership in very good heart and I am looking forward to working with our staff and partners in my new interim role in the months to come.

“I know it’s quite a challenging time ahead but I think it’s also going to be exciting too.

“There’s lots on the go with the new community hospital [in Haddington], our ongoing work around re-providing some of our older buildings, our focus on driving forward multi-disciplinary working, the Carers’ Strategy, the Self-Directed Support inspection and our new governance arrangements to bed in.

“I just want to say how much I value the support, insight and commitment of our staff and partners and the huge difference you make to patients and service-users across East Lothian.”