The Hallett Inquiry - Evidence given on 26 September 2024

An Overview of Professor Whitty's Responsibilities

Professor Sir Christopher Whtty's evidence starts on PDF page 14 of the 26 September transcript, corresponding to short page 56.

This post will explain Whitty’s responsibilities as England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

From 2009 to 2015, Whitty was the chief scientific adviser (CSA) and research director for the Department for International Development (DFID). From 2016 to 2021, he was the CSA to the Department of Health and Social Care and Head of the National Institute for Health and Care Research. He took up his post as CMO on 1 October 2019 while still the head of the NIHR.

His predecessors,  Dame Sally Davies and Sir Liam Donaldson, were accountable for the box thinking. Although it's unclear whether Whitty was part of this box thinking, his 15 years in government advisory roles suggest he must have been part of the machinery.  As CMO, he inherited a system built around the inevitability of the next pandemic—influenza. We have explained the involuntary historical genesis of this di…