The Lib Dems have given their FOI stuff on managers’ bonuses to The Observer, leading to this not-wildly-shocking story about managers’ bonuses.

Hello. Today we are spoiling you, Ambassador.

Not with Ferrero Rocher, of course: that would be bad for your health.

No we are spoiling you with an extra, religious-reform-inspired dose of The Maynard Doctrine for you.

And then we are spoiling you some more, because HPI associate director Tom Smith has contributed this commentary on yesterday’s ‘Great Health Debate’ at the Kings Fund.

Civitas think tank, which has been doing some good work on health for some time, held a lunchtime seminar-cum-debate on the topic ‘Who (should) run the NHS?’

The presentation was given by a former senior regulator whose departure was long-trailed (yes, it was Chatham House Rules, so no names, no packdrill).

It was fascinating. Here is a summary of the presentation.

The presentation

Health debate's been poor to date (I'll have a look at the health hustings done by the Kings Fund, Confed and RCN later on), but just at the moment, the Clegg Factor has brought some nice scenes to the election montage.

The first is a marvellous toys-exiting-pram incident by the News International posse. Oh dear. They don't like it up them, do they?

The instant reaction to this story about a Republican US senatorial wannabe, who suggests that patients should barter with their doctors with the offer of a chicken, is that it's been published 21 days late.

But it is a true story. Very amused, and not a little bit scared.

As the NHS scrambles frantically to pull together its flock of annual reports, the intervention in the BMJ by Lifford and Prevenost throws the issue of measuring quality nicely onto the agenda.

Hello. You should already have read the latest dose of The Maynard Doctrine; if not, go and do so now.

Late. Knackered. Etc. So some quick links.

NICE man gets Mail
Here is Michael Rawlins pointing out that fearmongering rag the Daily Mail never lets the facts get in the way of a good piece of fiction. Whoops! Sorry, good story.

In NICE's own words, "of the 15 products allegedly rejected by NICE:

So.

There I was, minding my own business, and that of everybody else in my local area.

There I was, just:
- deciding on a few planning applications;
- scrutinising the contracts for the local sub-contractors to the Crossrail project;
- assessing the cost-effectiveness of a digital interactive home schooling intiative versus sacking 45% of the local teachers;
- disciplining some council officials;
- and voting for the borough's top ten potholes, when ...

What do you mean, what was I doing?

Congratulations to Health Service Journal's Sally Gainsbury, whose follow-up to her scoop on the Royal Surrey selling drugs in europe to profit from the fall in sterling has hit most of the media today.

This is a good example of two things: a journalist sticking with a story (a rare thing in the ADD media); and why it is always better to kitchen-sink the truth out there when you get rumbled.

Expect a resignation at the Surrey by the end of play tomorrow.

You all know the old Yes, Minister joke: hapless minister Hacker writes “Balls” on a bad document.

Nice civil servant Bernard tells him such language is not OK in the civil service. Hacker rewrites, to “Round objects”.

The document comes back form Sir Humphrey, with the further annotation, “who is Round and to what does he object?”

Sometimes, on a bad day, I think I may be talking round objects about health policy. Sometimes, maybe I do.