Thank you, Chair.
Dr. Butler-Jones, I've been listening very carefully to what you say, and I've read your reports, and I think the concern of some of my colleagues on this committee is that the reports are all about process, and the remarks are all about process, and in fact most of what you do is communications. And of course what we have to be concerned about, what the public's concerned about, is where processes produce results, where the rubber hits the road.
I'm going to go over some territory my colleagues covered in part, and if you could give me a detailed answer, it would be very helpful.
There was one thing you said that was really impressive to me. You said, “The proof is in the pudding—can you respond effectively at the time?” And then, and I wish this was in the report—I think that if it was in the report we all would have felt better about the report—you said, "Chief medical officers phone me up and say they have a problem”.
I've done a lot of research into prescription drug safety, and I know that when somebody is injured or dies after taking a prescription drug, no one calls anyone. So I know it's really important when the chief medical officer calls you, but I wonder if you could tell me what happens next. I understand your role is primarily communication, but what would happen next? Like the previous SARS epidemic, what would you do and what would happen step by step after a chief medical officer calls you? And then I'd like to know what the result would be this time. Forty-four people died last time. Forty-four families lost a loved one. Can you say there would be far fewer deaths? What would be the result with a similar situation this time? That would give us an idea of how far you've come along.