Rosemary originally trained as a nurse in Glasgow and worked in front line clinical practise for 20 years before embarking on a career in clinical and general management for the next 20 years. Rosemary held a number of general and senior management posts in Glasgow and Lanarkshire before taking up post as an Executive Director in Lanarkshire in 2007. In 2014 she was awarded an honorary professorship by the faculty of Nursing at the University of the West of Scotland and in 2015 she was honoured to receive an MBE at Buckingham Palace, for services to Nursing and Midwifery in Scotland. Rosemary retired in 2015.