Chief medical officer is on a mission to have patients treated as human beings, writes Magnus Linklater

Quite how Catherine Calderwood juggles her job as chief medical officer for Scotland with her continuing practice as an obstetrician and being the mother of three young children is a mystery she keeps to herself. Seated in her office in St Andrews House in Edinburgh, she appears coolly on top of all three tasks. Yet they are formidable. Among them are tackling Scotlands appalling health record, persuading doctors to reassess the way they treat their patients, changing the national diet and revolutionising the way that health professionals communicate with the public.

Dr Calderwood, 48, regards her medical practice as vital it keeps her in touch with real life. Among her patients last week was a girl from Romania, 33 weeks pregnant and living with two

Read more:

A prescription for better medicine that is grounded in the real world - The Times (subscription)