UK's second-longest serving chief medical officer retires
This article was originally published in Scrip
England's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, says he will resign from the role in May, after holding the post for 12 years.
Sir Liam is the second longest serving CMO in history, after Sir George Newman, who served for 16 years between 1919 and 1935. Sir Liam was the 15th person to be appointed England's CMO; during his tenure, he also served as the Queen's Honorary Physician for three years until 1999, and was knighted in 2002.
As CMO, Sir Liam served to represent the government, medical profession and public, as well as act as the UK's chief advisor on health issues for the secretary of state for health, the prime minister and other government ministers.
He has been involved in the creation of a number of significant health policies and initiatives, including the creation of the Health Protection Agency in 2003; the introduction of clinical governance in the NHS; and action plans to tackle infectious disease control, such as a £3 million plan to promote the MMR vaccine in 2001, a contingency plan for West Nile fever in 2003, and the Stopping TB in England plan to raise awareness and monitor the disease in 2004.
Sir Liam originally planned to leave the post last year when he turned 60, but stayed on due to the development of the swine flu pandemic, where he has served as chair of the Pandemic Influenza Programme Board; he also oversaw the development of the DoH's National Flu Pandemic Framework in 2007. Sir Liam has indicated he will stay beyond the May departure date should the pandemic worsen. Plans for a new CMO will be announced at a later date, the DoH said.