Chief medical officer resigns
Sir Liam Donaldson has been chief medical officer since 1998
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Tuesday, 15, Dec 2009 04:40
By politics.co.uk staff
Britain's chief adviser on health issues is standing down after 12 years of service.
Sir Liam Donaldson, the man responsible for overseeing the response to the swine flu pandemic, will leave his role in May 2010.
He had planned to retire on reaching his 60th birthday in May 2009 but agreed to stay on an extra year to deal with swine flu.
Now it has become clear its deadliness is significantly less than had been feared Sir Liam has announced his plan to resign. He will stay on if swine flu unexpectedly worsens.
"I have been pleased to see many of my policy recommendations - stem cell research, smoke-free public places, reforms to the General Medical Council, changes to consent for organ and tissue retention and the creation of the Health Protection Agency - carried forward into legislation," Sir Liam said.
"I have been pleased too, that reforms I proposed to improve quality and safety of NHS care... are fully embedded in the service and have been also adopted in many other parts of the world."
Other achievements Sir Liam has worked towards include the introduction of clinical governance of the NHS, the establishment of the National Patient Safety Agency and action plans in key areas of infectious disease control such as tuberculosis, West Nile fever and health care associated infection.
Gordon Brown said Sir Liam's work had helped save "many, many lives".
And health secretary Andy Burnham also paid tribute, thanking Sir Liam for his "clear and calm advice" on dealing with the swine flu pandemic.
"His leadership and reassurance have taken the NHS and the country through a challenging year, and his preparations for this moment over many years put us in the best position to deal with it," he said.