Memorandum by Dr Jack Dummer (MMC 54)
MMC—ORAL EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY PROF
SIR LIAM DONALDSON ON 15/11/2007
I am a British citizen and a UK-trained medical
doctor currently studying as a PhD student in New Zealand. I am
also a member of RemedyUK.
I was prompted to write to you regarding Sir
Liam Donaldson's response to a very pertinent question: Sandra
Gidley MP asked him if he thought he should have resigned as CMO
given that he was the architect of MMC. Key to his answer was
that, " . . . the principles and policy [of MMC] were commended
in the Tooke report . . ."
His answer is relevant to the first of your
inquiry's terms of reference (whether the principles underlying
MMC are sound) as well as being critical to Sir Liam's defence
of his decision not to resign. I am concerned because, having
searched the Tooke Report for any commendation of MMC principles
and policy, I have found none. Rather, Sir John Tooke stated that
they were unclear and had detrimental consequences:
" . . . the precise policy objectives of
MMC do not appear to have been definitively stated at any point
nor agreed by key stakeholders." (4.1.1, Page 38)
"The inquiry has revealed that the development
and implementation of MMC has been hampered by a lack of clarity
regarding the policy objectives and guiding principles . . ."
(5.1, Page 84)
It is possible that I have missed the commendation
to which Sir Liam Donaldson referred but I think it highly unlikely
that Sir John Tooke would have commended any policy or principle
that lacked clarity or was never definitively stated.
It appears to me that, at best, Sir Liam made
a careless slip of the tongue. At worst, he deliberately misled
the Health Select Committee in order to preserve his position
as Chief Medical Officer for England. I hope you will carefully
consider this part of his oral evidence.
Dr Jack Dummer
21 November 2007
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