National Clinical Directors (Hansard, 12 March 2002)

§ Ms Blears

I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.

The seven national clinical directors and their spheres of competence are: Professor Ian Philp, the National Director for Older People's Services, is responsible for leading the implementation of the national service framework for older people which sets the Government standards for the health and social care for older people in England. Professor Philp is Honorary Consultant Physician, Northern General Hospital, with responsibility for the rehabilitation of frail older people. His team won the UK Hospital Doctor of the Year Award (Older People's category) in 1998. He continues to see patients at the Northern General Hospital one day per week. His research activity is on assessing the needs of older people and their family carers. He was Scientist-in-Charge of several large European Community-funded programmes and has published widely on this topic. Professor Mike Richards, is responsible for spearheading the development and implementation of cancer policy for the Department/NHS. Professor Richards has extensive experience in both medical oncology and palliative medicine. He was a senior lecturer and Reader in Medical Oncology before taking up the post of Professor of Palliative Medicine at Guy's and St. Thomas' in 1995. Dr. David Colin-Thome, is responsible for primary care. Dr. Colin-Thome's key role is to aid the development of primary care within the Department and in the national health service and to contribute to implementing the primary care elements of the NHS plan. Particular areas of work within the Department are: ensuring that the policy on general practitioners who have special clinical interests is implemented, as is the delivery of national service frameworks in primary care. He was a Fellow and proposed visiting professor at Manchester University and a former director of primary care at both north-west and London regional offices. Dr. Colin-Thome continues his GP work on a part-time basis. Professor Al Aynsley-Green, the National Clinical Director for Children is leading the work of the children's task force and the development of the children's national service framework (NSF). Professor Aynsley-Green is the Nuffield Professor of Child Health at the Institute of Child Health, University College London and a practising paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust. He is a member of the team whose submission led to the Queen's Anniversary Prize being awarded in 2001 to the Institute of Child Health. He is also president of the Association of Professors in Paediatrics and an elected member of the Council of The Academy of Medical Sciences. He holds prestigious grants for his research in child life and health. Professor Aidan Halligan, has a dual role as National Director of Clinical Governance for the NHS and Director of the NHS Clinical Governance Support Team, now part of the Modernisation Agency. Professor Halligan was appointed in September 1999, and led the creation of a multi-disciplinary team to work with the NHS, to support the implementation of clinical governance. Professor Halligan has valuable experience of service 1032W redesign and patient centred quality improvement from his work at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Professor Halligan is Professor of Fetal-Maternal Medicine at the University of Leicester and prior to appointment was Head of Obstetrics at Leicester Royal Infirmary. He retains a clinical and research commitment and sees patients one day a week. Professor Louis Appleby, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester where he leads major research units on suicide and on post-natal mental illness. Since 1996, he has been Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, whose recommendations formed the basis of standard 7 of the NSF on mental health—this standard is about suicide prevention. He has been a consultant psychiatrist since 1991, working in Manchester. Dr. Roger Boyle, is responsible for implementing the national service framework for coronary heart disease (CHD). Qualified from the London Hospital Medical College in 1972, Dr. Boyle has been a consultant cardiologist in York since 1983. He is a member of the Council of the British Cardiac Society and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the European Society of Cardiology. Dr. Boyle is a member of the external reference group that drew up the national service framework for CHD and chairman of the focus group on acute presentations as well as chairing the national task force for coronary heart disease.