Alasdair Liddell
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Alasdair Liddell
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|CBE|GBR|size=100%}}
| image =
| birth_name = Alasdair Donald MacDuff Liddell
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1949|01|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|12|31|1949|01|15|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| spouse = {{marriage|Jenny Abramsky|1976}}
| alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford
| office = Director of Planning
| order = Department of Health
| children = 2
}}
Alasdair Donald MacDuff Liddell {{post-nominals|CBE|GBR}} (15 January 1949 – 31 December 2012) was one of the architects of Britain's health strategy in the 1990s.{{cite web|author=Joe Churcher|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exnhs-policy-chief-alasdair-liddell-dies-aged-63-8438897.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125135114/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exnhs-policy-chief-alasdair-liddell-dies-aged-63-8438897.html |archive-date=2014-01-25 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Ex-NHS policy chief Alasdair Liddell dies aged 63|work=The Independent|date=4 January 2013|accessdate=12 April 2016}} As Director of Planning at the Department of Health (1994–2000), he led the process of setting national priorities for the National Health Service (NHS).{{Cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=236mWc0PgSIC&dq=%22Alasdair+Liddell%22&pg=PA131|title=The Executive Years of the NHS: The England Account 1985-2003|last2=Fall|first2=Margaret|date=2005|publisher=Radcliffe Publishing|isbn=978-1-85775-759-0|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Cooper|first=Liz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=raF27ikg6dsC&dq=%22Alasdair+Liddell%22&pg=PA21|title=Voices Off: Tackling the Democratic Deficit in Health|date=1995|publisher=Institute for Public Policy Research|isbn=978-1-86030-002-8|language=en}}
Education
Liddell was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, and Balliol College, Oxford (1967–70). He moved from the voluntary sector to health management and as chief of the East Anglian Regional Health Authority he pioneered the Rubber Windmill, a simulation involving large numbers of clinicians, health managers, journalists and others over several days, which tested (and found wanting) the government's plans to introduce internal markets to the NHS. The Windmill was highly influential and led to changes in the government's approach. Liddell's simulation idea has since been used repeatedly to assess the impact of the market-based reforms, notably for the King's Fund in 2007.{{Cite news|last=Dickson|first=Niall|date=11 January 2013|title=Alasdair Liddell obituary|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jan/11/alasdair-liddell-obituary|access-date=26 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}}
Career
He resigned, reputedly over policy differences with ministers, and subsequently acted as an advisor to health charities like the King's Fund (where he was a Senior Associate) and to health sector companies and consultancies.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} He was senior counsel to Bell Pottinger and was non-executive deputy chairman of Healthcare Locums plc, effectively taking executive responsibility in early 2011 when the company was found to have financial irregularities leading to the suspension of the company's chief executive Kate Bleasedale.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
He was promoted by Ken Jarrold to Director of Planning.{{Cite book|last=Limited|first=Pearson Education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgOcAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Alasdair+Liddell%22|title=Education Year Book 1999/2000|date=26 May 1999|publisher=Pearson Education, Limited|isbn=978-0-273-64158-2|language=en}} As Director of Planning at the Department of Health Liddell had Board level responsibility for strategy, NHS information and IT, NHS Communications, and a number of key policy areas. After the 1997 election he led the team supporting Ministers in laying the foundations for much of current government policy for the NHS. He was awarded a CBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours for services to the NHS.[https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/alasdair-liddell-jzn59mch8hd Alasdair Liddell obituary], The Times, 11 January 2013.
He died at age 63 of an aneurysm he suffered while visiting friends in London.{{Cite web|title=Alasdair LIDDELL Obituary|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/alasdair-liddell-obituary?pid=162135755|access-date=26 August 2020|website=Legacy.com|language=en}}
Family
Liddell married Jenny Abramsky in 1976. They had two children.
Works
- Co-authored the report Technology in the NHS: Transforming the patient's experience of care. 23 October 2008.{{Cite book|last1=Liddell|first1=Alasdair|last2=Adshead|first2=Stephen|last3=Burgess|first3=Ellen|date=23 October 2008|title=Technology in the NHS: Transforming the patient's experience of care|url=https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/technology-nhs|access-date=26 August 2020|website=The King's Fund|publisher=King's Fund |language=en|isbn=978-1-85717-574-5}}
- Co-authored Windmill 2009: NHS response to the financial storm. 2009.{{Cite book|last1=Harvey|first1=Sarah|url=https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/Windmill-NHS-response-to-the-financial-storm-Sarah-Harvey-Alasdair-Liddell-Laurie-McMahon-December-2009.pdf|title=Windmill 2009: NHS response to the financial storm|last2=Liddell|first2=Alasdair|last3=McMahon|first3=Laurie|publisher=The King's Fund|year=2009|isbn=978-1-85717-588-2|editor-last=O’Neill|editor-first=Kathryn|location=London, United Kingdom}}
References
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Category:Place of birth missing
Category:People educated at Fettes College
Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford