New Director of Public Health for Berkshire West

A NEW Director of Public Health for Berkshire West starts work next week.

Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz joins Berkshire West on December 1 at a critical time as the region continues to do everything possible to minimize Covid rates and set itself on the path to recovery. The Berkshire West region incorporates Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham boroughs.

Professor Daszkiewicz joins with a wealth of experience in leading  public health teams. She was Director of Public Health and Public Protection at Wiltshire Council between 2017 and 2020 where she led on the local public health response to the nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury during 2018. She also held the post of Consultant in Public Health at Wiltshire and worked in Reading previously as a Public Health Strategist on sexual health.

She has a proven track record of senior leadership across health and social care in transformation, innovation, strategy and service delivery across the Civil Service, NHS, Local Authority and the Voluntary Sector.

Professor Daszkiewicz said:

“I am thrilled to be joining a well-established and effective public health team at Berkshire West which has worked tremendously hard over the past 20 months on the local response to the pandemic. I am looking forward to joining the local authorities and partner organisations, to further strengthen the public health offer to achieve the best possible health improvement and protection for our communities.  

“This is a critical time for supporting communities and all our services to ensure people have the access to the services and information they need.  Tackling pre-existing inequalities and vulnerability exacerbated by Covid is key to achieving positive public health outcomes, which I know is also a key priority for Reading Borough Council.”

Graham Hoskin, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Health, said:

“Professor Daszkiewicz comes to Reading with a great deal of experience of public health issues under her belt, which I am certain will be invaluable to the Berkshire West region over the challenging weeks and months to come.

“Reading residents have responded magnificently to the public health pandemic, with the vast majority making sensible decisions to protect both themselves and their loved ones. It is important we all continue to follow public health guidance and one of the key Public Health roles will be to continue to reinforce those key messages in the weeks ahead.”