Professor Sir Liam Donaldson is currently the Chief Medical Officer for England, United Kingdom. As such he is principal advisor to the United Kingdom Government on health matters and one of the most senior officials in the National Health Service (NHS).

Career

Sir Liam was appointed as Chief Medical Officer in 1998. Between 1994 and 1998 he was Regional Director for the NHS Region of Northern and Yorkshire, and prior to that Regional Medical Officer and Regional Director of Public Health for the Northern Regional Health Authority. He began his career as a surgeon before training in public health.

Academic and Other Posts

Professor Donaldson is Visiting Professor in the University of Leicester Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and also holds an honorary Chair of Applied Epidemiology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

He is also Chair of the World Alliance for Patient Safety, which was established by the Director-General of the World Health Organization in October 2004.^[1]

Publications

Sir Liam is co-author of a standard text book of public health,^[2] a history of the Chief Medical Officers of England^[3] and over 120 papers in peer review journals.

Degrees

Professor Donaldson has degrees from:

• the University of Bristol (MB ChB, 1972), where he attended Wills Hall,^[4]
• the University of Birmingham,^[5] and
• the University of Leicester (MD, 1981), and he was also a Lecturer in the Department of Community Health, and subsequently Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology for four years.^[6]

He has also been awarded honorary Doctorates by:

• Huddersfield University (honorary DSc, 1998),^[7]
• the University of Bristol (honorary MD, 1999),^[8]
• the University of Leicester,^[9]
• Cranfield University (2000),^[10]
• the University of Portsmouth,
• the University of East Anglia (honorary ScD, 2003),^[11]
• the University of Teeside (honorary DSc, 2004),^[12]
• the University of York (2004), ^[13]
• the University of Nottingham (honorary DM, 2005),^[14]
• De Montfort University (honorary DSc, 2005),^[15]
• the University of Sunderland (honorary DSc, 2006),^[16] and
• the University of Hull (honorary DSc, 2006).^[17]

Fellowships

Sir Liam is also:

• a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCS(Ed)),
• a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (FFPHM),
• a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP),
• a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCP(Ed)),
• a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), and
• a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (FRCA).

Other Honours

Other honours include:

• the post of Queen's Honorary Physician during the mid-1990s,
• the College Medal by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, awarded in June 2000,
• a knighthood in the New Year's Honours List in 2002,^[18] and
• the Picker Award for Excellence, in recognition of his achievements in the field of patient-centred care and patient safety.^[19]

References