The first time I started skimming the HSJ / Reform piece by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (saviour, liberator), I got as far as the line "without health, we have nothing", and stopped.

Scanning very quickly for 'God is love', 'it's nice to be nice' and 'please adjust your dress before leaving' (because cliches should always travel in groups of four), I treated myself to a pause. It seemed topical.

An extremely interesting paper in The Lancet by Professor Nick Black suggests that the much-discussed decline in NHS productivity since the 2000 funding increases is, not to put too fine a point on it, not the case.

This matters hugely, as declining productivity is one of the key stated reasons behind the Health and Social Care Bill.

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If I'm reluctant to use the phrase 'game-changing', it's because the Health And Social Care Bill started off playing football; then went to Australian Rules rugby; had an interval 'pause' scripted by Harold Pinter; and then took up hurling using golf balls and squash raquets. (And we can shortly expect 'ping-pong'.)

It's definitely not been cricket.

The Health And Social Care Bill now looks more likely to be put out of its misery than it ever has before.

The Bill has struggled to buy a friend, and been the subject of perhaps more negative discussion than any legislation since the Community Charge - better known as the Poll Tax.

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Click here for details of 'PM Cameron - Mr Lansley's "as one" or assassin?', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

'Oops" has become a key word for the travails of the Health Bill. Yesterday saw an unwelcome oops moment when a symbolic amendment inserting the wording "physical and mental" meant that Labour won its first vote on the Bill.

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Click here for details of 'PM Cameron - Mr Lansley's "as one" or assassin?', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

Hats off as ever to the brilliant folk at Hansard for the transcript below, which I follow with three observations.

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Click here for details of 'PM Cameron - Mr Lansley's "as one" or assassin?', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

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The 'save Our Saviour And Liberator Andrew Lansley' campaign is not blessed with conspicuous media-savvy.

The BBC is being briefed that the NHS Future Forum made no difference (which they could have read about here at the time).

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I'd forgotten how much fun a bit of Health Bill action can be.

The battle of the bylines continues, after this morning's not-very-good-for-morale Times car crash.

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Valentine's Day is a week today, and it looks as if some of the Tory High Command are getting their Massacre in early.

Briefing from inside Number 10 Downing Street provides a fascinating column on Andrew Lansley in The Times by political journalist Rachel Sylvester.

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I'm grateful to National Voices on Twitter for reminding me of the excellent Don Berwick 10-point plan for healthcare reform, which he delivered to NHS Live in 2008.

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