Dr Ruth HallAVON, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority has named its new director of public health. Dr Ruth Hall, is currently the chief Medical officer for Wales and will become the region's new director of public health from June 1 2005.

She will work with NHS partners, and others in local government, education and business, to help make the region a healthier place to live.

Trevor Jones, the chief executive of the health authority said: "I am delighted that we will have someone of Dr Hall's expertise and calibre to help us grasp the huge opportunity presented by the recent Government White Paper, Choosing Health,"

Dr Hall is a doctor with more than 30 years' experience of working in the NHS. She started her career as a junior doctor in London and followed it by 12 years in clinical practice.

She then spent time as a consultant in Public Health Medicine at Clwyd Health Authority, before becoming chief medical officer for Wales.

In that role, Dr Hall provided clinical, public health and professional advice to Government Ministers in Wales.

She said. "I am excited by this challenge and hope to bring a different and more creative focus to tackling the causes of ill-health in the south west."