I’ve asked Matheson, a keen mountaineer, about his love of the hills and whether we should prepare ourselves for an onslaught of press calls inviting us to observe him promoting the health benefits of enjoying the great outdoors. Matheson has been involved in mountaineering since he was 12 and says it is an activity he “thoroughly enjoys,” having had the opportunity to climb in the Himalayas and the Alps, as well as extensively in Scotland. He has also been a member of the Ochil mountains’ rescue team for some 16 years. “I try to keep my involvement with the
team as much as I can, largely to be a focus to get out on the hills. Te great thing I enjoy about mountain rescue is you go along and you are just one of the guys, it doesn’t matter what your job is. So it is a very worthwhile activity but it is also very good fun to be a member of the team,” he says, adding: “I’m going to try and keep it going as much
as I can and whether the Government’s communications team manage to get me involved in some mountain activities, we’ll have to wait and see!”
Regardless, Matheson has a metaphorical mountain to climb as he inherits responsibility for addressing Scotland’s public health record from his colleague Shona Robison, who has moved sideways to take up the position as Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport. However, he appears unfazed by the
“We have to make sure we are giving people an opportunity to lead as
healthy a life as possible, and to reach as much of their potential as possible”
challenge ahead and confesses in his first interview since his appointment to being “delighted” with being selected for this particular brief, having formed a “longstanding interest” in public health during both his pre-parliament life as a community occupational therapist and his
12 years on the back benches, including the four he spent serving on the Health and Sport Committee in the last session. Tese experiences will no doubt stand
him in good stead as he focuses on his new role. His previous career working as a health professional in a social care setting, for example, has given him a “unique insight” into the current debate around integrating health and social care, he says, and has convinced him that some of the barriers are “not as insurmountable as at times people would lead you to believe they are.” He continues: “Tere is a tremendous amount of good will and good practice that is exercised by both social care and by healthcare staff. Many of the barriers that have developed over the years are largely artificial. Trough good partnerships, I saw first hand how health and social work staff can work very well together. I think it is having that insight into that particular field, and also being able to recognise that some of those barriers are readily, I think, resolved.” Recently the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Nicola Sturgeon announced she
27 June 2011 Holyrood 41
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