Health Policy Insight
Healthcare management online analysis and intelligence
The home of UK health policy

Editor's Blog

Editor's blog Friday 11 March 2011: Tribal Group PLC shares, a price monitoring extension and Rule 8.3 disclosures

Publish Date/Time: 
03/11/2011 - 18:48

A number of Rule 8.3 disclosures on Tribal Consulting's website, such as this from J P Morgan Asset Management and this from Crystal Amber Fund Limited indicate that minority investors have been disposing of parts of their shareholdings in the company. Both investors' Tribal shares were sold for around 41 pence.

Editor's blog Friday 11 March 2011: New GMS contract deal out; and end of NHS not as nigh as some report

Publish Date/Time: 
03/11/2011 - 16:18

You can get details on the DH view on the newly-agreed terms of the one-year extension and revision to the present GMS GP contract here.

Guest editorial Friday 11 March 2011: Sad or bad? Limp Dem Health Minister Paul Burstow

Publish Date/Time: 
03/11/2011 - 14:11

Irwin Brown of the Socialist Health Association takes a disparaging look at the Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow

The role of Lib Dems in the destruction of our NHS is characterised by the lamentable performance of Paul Burstow, who is active on the Bill Committee.

During the Committee exchanges, his role has been to read out lengthy and detailed explanations provided for him to justify every detail of the Bill.

Editor's blog Thursday 10 March 2011: Oh dear - Health Minister Paul Burstow interview worsens matters

Publish Date/Time: 
03/10/2011 - 22:35

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.

Liberal Democrat Health Minister Paul Burstow has made scant impression thus far, policy-wise.

A trend that continues with his dreadfully wet and at points misleading interview with Guardian political editor Patrick Wintour.

Editor's blog Thursday 10 March 2011: The BMA SRM - mods, rockers, the top 30 and the future of Andrew Lansley

Publish Date/Time: 
03/10/2011 - 11:19

A fair few buckets of the midnight oil must have been burnt for the BMA to produce the 48-page agenda for its Special Representative Meeting next Tuesday.

The BMA's leadership find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They face the SRM ending in a near-certain mandate to move to outright opposition to the Bill.

If this is the result, the current leadership's positions would look untenable, and they would likely feel obliged to resign.

Editor's blog Wednesday 9 March 2011: Government's 100 "minor, technical" amendments to its own Health And Social Care Bill

Publish Date/Time: 
03/09/2011 - 16:39

Congratulations to Pulse journalist Ian Quinn for spotting the publication of the Government's 100-strong list of amendments to its own Health And Social Care Bill.

A DH spokesperson told Pulse that they were "minor, technical amendments".

As the typo king of health policy-land, I am the last person to criticise anyone for minor technical amendments.

Editor's blog Tuesday 8 March 2011: Things That Will Not Be The Health Secretary's Problem In The Near Future, Part One

Publish Date/Time: 
03/08/2011 - 22:31

Today's health questions in the House Of Commons was not exactly a riot of answered questions and enlightened debate and discussion.

Plus ca change ... But one exchange seems to be worth quoting:

Editor's blog Tuesday 8 March 2011: Did SOS Lansley's statement that FTN leaked letter to BBC mislead the House?

Publish Date/Time: 
03/08/2011 - 17:53

During Health Questions today in the House of Commons, Secretary Of State For Health Andrew Lansley was asked a question about a letter from NHS Confederation Foundation Trust Network to David Flory, finance supremo of the DH (reported today in the Evening Standard), warning of the impending effect of reduced spending due to the efficiency savings under way.

Editor's blog Monday 7 March 2011: It's not Burns; it's balls

Publish Date/Time: 
03/07/2011 - 14:38

You will probably remember Mace-swingin' Haymarket-publishin' late-payin' Thatcher-topplin' own furniture-buyin' Michael Heseltine's infamous comment, on hearing of a Gordon Brown speech on the economy to the City using the phrase 'neo-classical endogenous growth theory'. Hezza repeated the line to his audience, adding in reference to Brown's economist lieutenant Mr Ed, "that's not Brown's; it's Balls'!"

Editor's blog Monday 7 March 2011: What happens next in The Age Of Less

Publish Date/Time: 
03/07/2011 - 10:58

Health Secretaries redisorganising the NHS are like dogs licking their own arseholes. Just because they can, it doesn't mean they should.

That did not prevent SOS Lansley from reversing the promises of the Coalition Agreement, and the pre-electoral assurances from That Nice Mr Cameron, to end top-down reorganisation.

There have been some shoddy attempts at revisionist history by Coalition ministers, but unless I somehow missed the widespread, proctologically bottom-up campaign among PBC consortia to abolish PCTs and SHAs, that was the first U-turn.

Syndicate content