Professor Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson

Professor Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson was the 15th Chief Medical Officer for England from 1998 to 2010, responsible as the Nation's Doctor for advising on and shaping the United Kingdom's approach to health and health care through reforming policy, legislation and public and professional attitudes.

Sir Liam was born on 3 May 1949 in Teesside. He was raised in Rotherham where his father Raymond Donaldson was Medical Officer for Health, before returning to Teesside to take up a similar role there.

Throughout his early career, Sir Liam worked across the sector in all areas of health care; hospital medicine, general practice, public health, academic medicine and health service management.

He studied as a Medical Undergraduate at the University of Bristol, initially choosing a career in surgery and gaining a Masters degree from the University of Birmingham in Anatomy. He spent 2 years as a Surgical Registrar at a large group of teaching hospitals in Birmingham, where he also held a teaching and research post; lecturing in Anatomy. Sir Liam moved to the new Medical School at the University of Leicester where he both enhanced his undergraduate and postgraduate teaching skills and graduated in 1982 with a Doctorate in Medicine.

During this period, Sir Liam also changed his speciality to Public Health, becoming a Lecturer in Community Medicine then a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the University of Leicester while also practising as a General Practitioner. Later, in 1989, he became Professor of Applied Epidemiology at Newcastle University, where he still holds an honorary Chair as well as a visiting Chair at the University of Leicester.

In 1986, Sir Liam progressed to Public Health Management with a move back to the North East, where he was appointed Regional Medical Officer to the Northern Regional Health Authority, advising in matters relating to the health of the community and the provision, development and evaluation of health services. He held the post (whose title changed to Regional Director of Public Health) until 1992, when he became Regional General Manager and Director of Public Health to the region. He was recognised for his strong leadership and reforms to the quality of care provided to patients through a common quality ethos, as well as reduction of waiting lists, responding effectively to crises and significant contributions to National Policy.

In 1994, when the Northern and Yorkshire Regional Health Authorities were merged, he was appointed to the post of Regional General Manager and Director of Public Health of this new region, where he was responsible for the health needs of some 7 million people. In 1996, when the Northern and Yorkshire Regional Health Authority was abolished and replaced by a Regional Office, he was appointed Regional Director of the NHS Executive: Northern and Yorkshire and also took the role of Regional Director of Public Health. During this period of major reorganisation of management structure in the National Health Service, Sir Liam introduced a common performance culture across two very different health regions covering 51 NHS Trusts and 13 Health Authorities.

In 1998, Sir Liam succeeded Sir Kenneth Calman in the significant and historic role of Chief Medical Officer for England; a post established in 1855 to make public health reform a National priority. Here, he had to act as the UK Government's independent principal medical adviser and the professional head of all medical staff in England, as well as serving the public by championing the need for action on the major health problems of the day. He did so through landmark reformative campaigns which aimed to address prevalent health issues, implement his own improvement agendas and react to high profile crises. Towards these ends, Sir Liam authored a series of ground-breaking reports analysing existing problem, demanding consolidated action and setting out the means by which to achieve transformation. These campaigns led to legislative reform, awareness campaigns and transformation of services and the medical profession.

Among these campaigns, backed by these influential special reports, were;

Sir Liam also significantly affected policy by championing health issues through his Annual Reports On the State of the Public Health . Among the recurrent issues were patient safety, action on the nation's obesity problem and the need for tobacco control and smoke-free public places. This coverage led to significant media coverage and debate, placing them in the public consciousness, as well as action through Government policy and legislation. Perhaps most significantly, his work led directly to the banning of smoking in public places and workplaces through legislation passed on 1 July 2007; a public health landmark.

Sir Liam was also called upon to react to high profile issues of public concern on behalf of the Government. These included the storage of children's organs at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, the clinical audit of the practice of Dr Harold Shipman, and the inquiry into the children's heart surgery service at Bristol Royal Infirmary. His reponses led to far reaching reforms to ensure lessons were learnt and safeguards put in place.

Sir Liam informed the Government of his intention to step down from the role of Chief Medical Officer in November 2009, but delayed his departure until May 2010 in order to lead the response to the H1N1 Swine Flu influenza epidemic. He held the post for 13 years.

As a leading advocate for patient safety, Sir Liam also worked to promote this imperative internationally among victims and their families, professionals and policy makers worldwide. This work led to the establishment of the World Health Organization (WHO) World Alliance for Patient Safety, which Sir Liam has chaired since its launch in 2004, engaging over 140 countries as an ongoing global concern. He is also regarded as an international leader in health and health care, particularly in the fields of public health and health care quality, representing the United Kingdom in the World Health Organization.

Sir Liam was recognised for his professional contributions to the United Kingdom and achievements in health and health care with a Knighthood in 2002. He also holds 14 honorary doctorates from British Universities; eight fellowships from medical royal colleges, the Gold Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and was the Queen's Honorary Physician between 1996 and 1999.

Sir Liam is the co-author of a standard textbook of public health ( Donaldsons' Essential Public Health ), a History of the Chief Medical Officer's for England ( The Nation's Doctor ) and over 170 papers in peer review journals.

From the guide to the Sir Liam Donaldson Collection, 1959 - 2010, (Newcastle upon Tyne University: Special Collections)