Number 1 haiku
New CCG guide
Towards authorisation;
I'm so re-assured.

Number 2 haiku

Lords committee see
Unconstitutional Bill;
The price is not right.

This guest editorial from Nick de Bois, MP for Enfield North, sets out his case as to why the decision to close the A&E and maternity services at Chase Farm is unjustified.

De Bois recently wrote this letter of complaint to the Prime Minister about the decision.

I do not expect to be consulted over what instruments are used if I require heart surgery; but I do expect a choice over whether to undertake the surgery or not.

A new research study into viability-challenged NHS hospitals by MHP Health Mandate policy and communications agency offers a political 'heat map', by correlating these trusts with marginal constituencies.

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At one point, it looked as if Labour's shadow health secretary John Healey might forego his speech for a panel session. Labour had pulled off the coup of getting former coronary and stroke czar Professor Sir Roger Boyle onto a mixed panel of NHS staff.

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Click here for details of 'PFI in the sky; not NPfIT for purpose - DH magics up money without menaces', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

The NHS is traditionally bad at failure.

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Click here for details of 'PFI in the sky; not NPfIT for purpose - DH magics up money without menaces', the new issue of subscription-based Health Policy Intelligence.

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Much of Labour leader Ed Miliband's argument yesterday wasn't at all bad. He has clearly grasped the extent to which the financial crisis has changed UK politics and economics.

And he is positioning himself to appeal with arguments about fairness to a 'squeezed middle' which is certain to grow in size.

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We have previously written about Lord Ashcroft’s electoral polling on marginal seats, and the role of the NHS for voters.

Today, on the Conservative Home website, Lord Ashcroft outlines his latest psephological research.

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Dr Tom Smith, associate director of Health Policy Insight, returns to the fray with this report on the first of the three events at the main party conferences, which asked delegates 'whose responsibility is it to ensure early diagnosis of health problems?'

Although delegates weren't allowed to vote on health resolutions at the Liberal Democrat conference last week there was plenty of associated debate in the halls, conference rooms and bars of Birmingham. Some of the best debate took place at fringe meetings organised at the Health Hotel.

Health Policy Intelligence is our weekly subscription-based analysis service.

The new double-issue, '‘PFI in the sky; not NPfIT for purpose - DH magics up money without menaces', is now out.

Health Policy Intelligence is not available as free content. Subscription costs £8 a month / £69 a year for an individual. Increasing discounts are available to organisations wanting to subscribe for groups of more than 5 and 10 individuals.

Oops.

The political strategy to attack 22 trusts' PFI debt burden adopted by Andrew Lansley (saviour, liberator) and colleagues, and excitedly taken up by the BBC and Daily Telegraph yesterday, rather backfired.

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