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Editorial Monday 8 February 2021: The olden days

Publish Date/Time: 
02/08/2021 - 23:30

“And here I sit so patiently, waiting to find what price
You have to pay to get out of going through all these things twice”

Bob Dylan, ‘Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again’

Sometimes, the past has useful lessons we can learn.

This bit does, anyway.

In 2010, I spent a huge amount of time getting to understand the things that became the 2012 Health And Social Care Act.

History, and this website, record that I was not a big fan of those ideas.

Editorial Friday 5 February 2021: Exclusive - Key points and analysis of the Government's new Health White Paper

Publish Date/Time: 
02/05/2021 - 10:17

“The Health and Social Care Act 2012 put a regime in place which put competition as the organising principle for improvement in NHS care. This has in some cases hindered integration between providers. In practice, the NHS has not operated as the market intended by the 2012 Act …

"The NHS England of 2022 is a very different organisation with a significantly different role to the NHS Commissioning Board of 2013 …

Editorial Friday 5 February 2021: Exclusive - Government's new Health White Paper draft text

Publish Date/Time: 
02/05/2021 - 07:37

Health Policy Insight has obtained the draft of the Government's White Paper on Health. Its text is below: commentary on this text can be found here.

Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all [working title]

The Department of Health and Social Care’s legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill
TBC February 2021

Contents
[To delete - info for drafting only]
1. Foreword from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Editorial 30 November 2020: Cowper's Cut 138 - Pretty vacant (part two)

Publish Date/Time: 
11/30/2020 - 11:10

Owing to constraints of space and time, this material written for my weekly column for Health Service Journal could not be used there. So it's here.

DHSC Covid19 Winter Plan

Guest editorial Friday 20 March 2020: Stupid-19: the new global threat that doctors won’t tell you about

Publish Date/Time: 
03/20/2020 - 13:39

EDITOR'S NOTE: Occasionally, I get sent pieces good enough to be worth including here: this is one such. Enjoy.

Stupid-19: the new global threat that doctors won’t tell you about

Coronavirus can make you credulous and may lead to complete stupidity.

This is the shocking discovery that the World Health Organisation and other so-called experts are keeping from the public to protect the billionaire producers of hand sanitisers and bleach.

Editorial Friday 28 February 2020: Weather and friction

Publish Date/Time: 
02/28/2020 - 09:48

I’m grateful to a friend for giving me the insight below into Dominic Cummings, the special advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

This dates back to an incident when Mr Cummings was the special advisor to Michael Gove, who was then the Coalition Government’s Secretary Of State For Education. A person creating a charity to provide breakfasts for children in state schools was seeking the Education Secretary’s support, and so got a meeting with Mr Cummings.

Editorial Thursday 27 February 2020: Matt Hancock speech to Nuffield Trust Summit

Publish Date/Time: 
02/27/2020 - 16:40

Rough text of Matt Hancock speech to Nuffield Trust Summit. Uncorrected. Will contain typos.

Government’s vision for the NHS and social care – Matt Hancock

We’re doing all we reasonably can that’s possible to keep the public safe from Coronavirus.

Praise exemplary response from officials, Public Health England and DH. Brilliant work of CMO Prof Chris Whitty. Plan driven by science and guided by expert advice marshalled by Chris Whitty. Tackling this is overwhelming and currently taking most of my time.

Editorial Wednesday 11 December 2019: At the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute, some Labour health policy

Publish Date/Time: 
12/11/2019 - 12:05

This is quite interesting. Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has finally given Health Service Journal an interview about Labour health policy.

Editorial Wednesday 4 December 2019: The main parties' manifestos on health and care

Publish Date/Time: 
12/04/2019 - 09:23

Being asked to choose a Prime Minister between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn is like being asked whether you'd prefer constipation or diarrhoea. The obvious answer is 'neither, thanks'.

It's not quite a Hobson's Choice of a General Election, but it's not far off.

Editorial Thursday 20 June 2019: Executive tendencies

Publish Date/Time: 
06/20/2019 - 14:14

Baroness Harding is the highly executive and very vocal chair of NHS Improvement. She is saying many of the right things about the change of culture needed in the NHS, which is thoroughly welcome and greatly to be applauded. We must hope it will happen.

The Baroness is now seeing executive tendencies in other, specifically in Health Service Journal. Speaking at the NHS Confederation's conference in Manchester, Baroness Harding suggested that we are currently in an era of "trial by HSJ".

Why is this allegation and perception on the mind of NHS Improvement's chair just now?