Sally Davies (doctor)

Davies joined the Civil Service in 2004 to take up a research position in London and was soon promoted to Director-General of Research and Development at the Department of Health.[12][13][14] In 2006, she expanded the National Health Service (NHS) research base through the creation of the National Institute for Health Research (whose Strategy Board she chaired) and went on to become the Chief Scientific Adviser of the Department of Health and Social Care.[9]

In June 2010, under the premiership of David Cameron, Davies was appointed interim Chief Medical Officer for England and was confirmed as the permanent holder of that position the following year – the first woman to hold the post.[6] The Chief Medical Officer has a 'rank' equivalent to Permanent Secretary – the highest in the Civil Service.[15]

The 'Chief' in the job title strictly refers to the incumbent's position as the most senior doctor within the Civil Service – the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Work and Pensions, for example, both employ doctors as civil servants, as of course does the Department of Health. Despite the name, the post of Chief Medical Officer has traditionally had no particular status within the medical profession as a whole – it has some parallels with the much grander position of Surgeon General in the USA. However, with the huge expansion in the Department of Health's purview over the past two decades, the postholder has acquired substantial de facto influence over National Health Service policy.

Unusually for a British Chief Medical Officer, Davies does not have a background as a specialist in public health. Nevertheless, Davies has written and spoken extensively about the rise of antimicrobial resistance in medicine and animal husbandry, including carrying out work to raise its profile on the international scene.[16] Davies delegated authoring and editing her statutory annual reports to other doctors and healthcare practitioners, although she wrote an introduction to each and oversaw their compilation. She is particularly concerned about excessive alcohol consumption, especially by young women – who, she told the BBC in 2013, "we know can only take about half the alcohol that men can" and so are more prone to liver damage as a result.[17]

In July 2013, she was asked by the BBC whether she had ever favoured female doctors in order to counterbalance discrimination against them as a group. Davies replied: "I probably do positively discriminate because, as the men appoint in their own image, so do I appoint in my own image. I like having bright sparky women around, so I do understand how difficult it can be for the men to actually challenge the stereotypes and think differently".[9]

In her 2014 annual report, Davies said that the government needed to make tackling obesity a national priority. The report also made recommended a national audit of ovarian cancer, and challenged "taboos" around the menopause and incontinence "to make sure embarrassment is never a barrier to better health."[18]

As of 2015, Davies was paid a salary of between £210,000 and £214,999 by the department, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[19]

In January 2016, Davies reduced the recommended weekly alcohol limit for men to that for women, in new guidelines warning of the association between alcohol consumption and some forms of cancer. The guidance gave a new weekly limit of 14 units, while at the same time saying there was no safe level of alcohol consumption.[20] The Financial Times said the two messages were "inherently contradictory"[21] and Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, revealed that drinking the maximum allowance set by Davies would be no more dangerous than eating bacon sandwiches or watching films.[22]

Davies has recommended banning promotion and advertising of junk foods. She wants plain packaging for junk foods as for cigarettes, and VAT increases on junk foods high in fat, salt or sugar. Davies said, "I think the polling data is pretty clear. The public think it’s time that governments acted to protect their children. Overweight and obesity is because we are all in this flood of unhealthy food marketing and advertising. We need to close those floodgates".[23]

On 8 February 2019, she was announced Master elect of Trinity College, Cambridge, in succession to Sir Gregory Winter.[24] She is the first woman to hold the appointment.[25] She was installed as the 39th Master of Trinity College during a ceremony on 8 October 2019.[26]

In June 2019, Davies was appointed as the UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)[27] where she represents the UK government internationally. In her role, she also works across government on the "one health approach" and advises on the delivery of the 5-year action plan and the 20 year vision on AMR.[28]