As Sir Davidpointedout time and time again to the committee, he was responsible at that time for the supervision of more than 50 local hospitals across the West Midlands.
As Sir Davidpointedout as he was grilled by members of the Health Select Committee over his handling of the Stafford Hospital scandal, the coming weeks will see the whole structure of the health service redrawn.
However - as David Cameron pointedout in 2007 - the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major did little to halt or reverse the comprehensive revolution despite having 18 years to do so.