Inquiry Chairman

Deirdre Hine qualified in medicine at the then Welsh National School of Medicine in 1961. After experience in hospital medicine and general practice she trained in Public Health Medicine and was appointed to a consultant post with South Glamorgan Health Authority in 1974.  She has had a varied career in both academic and NHS practice.

She established the much applauded Welsh Breast Cancer Screening Service, Breast Test Wales, before becoming Chief Medical Officer at the Welsh Office from 1990 to 1997.  She is known widely for her co-publication with Sir Kenneth Calman of the seminal Report on Cancer Services which bears their names.

She was awarded the DBE for Services to Medicine in 1997. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, of the Faculty of Public Health, of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. She is the recipient of Honorary MDs of the University of Wales and the University of Sheffield and of numerous other honorary degrees and fellowships.

After retirement as Chief Medical Officer she served as a member of the Audit Commission from 1997 to 1999, was elected President of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2000 to 2002, and was appointed to Chair the Commission for Health Improvement from 1999 until April 2004. She was an Independent Member of the House of Lords Appointment Commission from 2000 to 2005, was elected President of the BMA 2005-6 and was Chairman of the Royal Society of Medicine Press Board 2004-2008. She served from 2003-2005 as a member of the adjudication panel for the Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine a prestigious International Prize of one million US dollars awarded annually by the Shaw Foundation of Hong Kong.

In 2004, at the request of the Northern Ireland DHSSPS, she chaired the Inquiry into the Decontamination of Endoscopes in hospitals throughout Northern Ireland

She is currently President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, Chairman of the BUPA Foundation, Chairman of the IT Working party of the BMA, a Non-Executive Director of Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, a Vice-President of Marie Curie Cancer Care and of the British Lung Foundation, a member of the Ethics Committee of Dr Foster and of the Board of the Pfizer UK Foundation.

She is married to Dr Raymond Hine, a retired academic physicist, and has two sons and five grandchildren.