Not only has Mark Britnell written a book, so too has the former Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil David Laws.

Guest contributor The Masked Blogger casts an eye over a legislative fiasco

On Friday the NHS was finally laid to rest after the NHS (Re-reinstatement) Bill was adjourned till late April.

The junior doctors are on strike, again. Both sides look entrenched for the long haul. Both claim the moral high ground of patient safety and the public good.

Well, and well some more. The public, as surveyed by Ipsos MORI, seem to remain relatively supportive of the junior doctors.

Surprise, surprise: there are loads of vacant clinical jobs, while providers are finding their own workarounds for the agency staff cap/ban.

The latest version of the NHS staff survey shows a welcome improvement in the 'overall engagement' score.

"Over half of all staff (58%) report that they often or always look forward in going to work, with 74% of staff feeling enthusiastic about their job"

It is difficult to see what possessed the sensible and savvy Sir David Dalton to have recommended, or hinted at recommending, any endorsement for imposing the new contract for junior doctors.

Sir David took a reputational risk by agreeing to take over negotiations on behalf of NHS Employers - who were, let us remember, invented to take the heat off politicians and NHS leaders in the event of just such bitter contractual wrangles with critical groups of staff.

First, the dung: to the considerable surprise of absolutely nobody, the latest waiting time data shows that 18 weeks has officially been breached. Waiting dynamics expert Dr Rob Findlay has been consistently noting that this was inevitable for some time.

Dogs bark. Bears shit in the woods. And hogs whimper at some system leaders’ silliness as the money doesn’t magically stop being spent.

As I have previously observed, the doctots’ dispute is actually about pay, terms and conditions. There is nothing wrong with that.

Doctots are (for all the enjoyable nicknaming) mostly very hardworking, intelligent and dedicated people who do an awful lot of the work that happens in healthcare.

Health economist Professor Alan Maynard runs the rule over the Stevens regime

Who would want Simon Steven’s job? One can only admire the fortitude of Sir Galahad (better known as SS). He is mired in the bog that is Whitehall, with the natives running riot, practising planned parsimony voted for by no sensible citizen.

Sir G quests quietly and determinedly for the Holy Grails: leverage to facilitate financial solvency; avoidance of crises; and radical reform of NHS attitudes and practices.

Health economist Professor Alan Maynard says that NHS activity and performance measurement need to improve significantly.

The NHS has three problems with ensuring managers are adept at measurement and thus able to deploy their skills efficiently, rather than haphazardly.

Firstly, there is a paucity of data, particularly in primary care.

Secondly, there is an enormous stock of secondary care data which managers neglect.