If the NHS falls over this winter, the cause is likely to be not policy but influenza.

Swine flu, to be exact.

I have been sent the following document: a report of a teleconference led by the Health Protection Agency.

This is obviously urgent, so would all Health Policy Insight readers please get this message to your local and regional clinical leaders as soon as possible? Thank you.

H1N1 influenza – Report of an HPA-led teleconference 10 December 2010

The executive summary doesn't actually use the word 'heroic' about the assumptions being made on potential efficiency savings in both healthcare and social care by the Coalition Government's policy and financial planning.

However, that is the whole extent of the punch-pulling in this new Report On Public Expenditure.

I have noticed something about 'The £15-20 Billion Man' Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS.

He’s still here.

This is, in itself, fairly surprising, given the flagrant resurgence of tensions between himself and SoS Lansley that were evident at last week’s health select committee evidence, and as discussed, before that.

Irwin Brown of the Socialist Health Association wonders how a provision-led NHS will cope with a John Lewis future of unlimited choice and competition. Will tastefully-made TV ads be enough?

Could we stop worrying about commissioning for a bit, and worry about what is happening in provider world?

Irwin Brown of the Socialist Health Association reads a requiem for primary care trusts

It appears unlikely that we will see marches and protests to “Save our PCT”. They have few friends, and the few they had are now as passionate about their demise!

Regular readers will recall that we have been watching developments regarding NICE fairly closely.

In particular, you may recall our pieces about:

The creation of a national cancer drugs fund to undermine NICE

Earl Howe declaring NICE “somewhat redundant”

VERDICT: a much more effective, less disappointing performance from Labour. Shadow health secretary John Healey scored with his Office for Budget Responsibility's increased inflation forecast figures making NHS funding a real-terms cut of 0.25%, which forced Health Secretary Andrew Lansley into sophistry and evasiveness.

Lansley continued with his method of repeatingly emphasising one response (this month, it was “Labour wanted to cut NHS spending”) - this tactic is predictable, untailored and will soon run out of steam.

The Kings Fund's policy events are usually must-attends; irritatingly, a sick nanny prevented me being at their breakfast session this morning.

Robert Creighton, a very able and very experienced PCT chief executive, to whose day job running NHS Ealing has been added NHS Hounslow and NHS Hillingdon, took the career-limiting move of telling the truth at this morning's event.

- Dr Foster Intelligence were involved in this 2009 review with KPMG of NHS Choices - the service Dr Foster Intelligence launched in 2007, and for which they lost the contract at its re-tender in 2008

- DH provided Capita's commercially-contracted NHS Choices staff with free office space, IT support and clinical informatics products

Shadow Health Secretary John Healey continues to make smart moves, with this proposal, trailed on the Labour Uncut website, which aim to wrest the 'Big Society' agenda out of Cameroon and Coalition hands.