The report by Johnathan Brown in today's independent about the Burke and Hare-type exploits of a pathologist associated with Sellafield nuclear power station is a sobering reminder that unacceptable paternalism is by no means confined to the NHS alone.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" was one of the greatest lines by one of the late twentieth century's most original journalists: Dr Hunter S Thompson.

Rarely has it seemed more aposite than of late, looking at health policy.

You have heard of the theory that life imitates art?

In the realm of public policy, the generally-accepted theory is that life imitates a particularly far-out episode of Yes, Minister.

Irwin Brown of the Socialist Health Association reviews the three cultures of NHS bad practice, and wonders whether the true cultural challenge is a caring deficit.

Reading the transcripts of the Mid-Staffs enquiry, and hearing another series of bad news stories about the NHS in the media, should make us all think hard. We accept the Kings Fund conclusion that the NHS delivers good care for most patients most of the time; that is what the “evidence” tells us.

The Guardian reports that twin children have been killed by a serious untoward incident - it would appear, by a clinical error in rate of medication dosage - at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Oh no. Not again.

A culture of learning from error - and patient safety - seems to be as far away as ever.

Goodness gracious. For want of shorter, more anglo-saxon words.

Tom Ireland of Healthcare Republic reports that Liberatin' Andrew Lansley told a meeting of GPs in Halton that private sector or charity-led 'commissioning support organisations' will help GP consortia share financial risk.

Is there some bet on for who can deliver the most half-baked piece of policy in 2010?

There is a bitter irony that a day devoted to raising awareness of the sacrifices of previous generations in war, a report reveals that people of the main demographic we consider are at significant risk from healthcare.

An Age-Old Problem is the depressing new report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death (NCEPOD), out today.

David Smith of The Guardian reports that Netcare KwaZulu has admitted in a plea bargain to having received receiving 3.8 million rand (£342,000) from an illegal international organ trafficking syndicate.

The process involved the removal of kidneys from five children. The transplants were done at one of South Africa's top hospitals, Netcare St Augustine's in Durban.

This is a puzzle.

Earlier today, I heard about David Nicholson's National Quality Board letter to Health Secretary Andrew Liberatin' Lansley, which urges a measured approach to the pace of change, moving to the new system once bodies are demonstrably fit for purpose.

Now Dave West and Sarah Calkin of Team HSJ have spotted that the DH has issued a revised timetable, bringing precise end-dates for PCTs (April 2013) and SHAs (April 2012).

This letter from Nicholson to Lansley is interesting. (UPDATE - you may also want to read this article.)

Sir David didn't get to where he is today without the ability to pitch the tone just right. Well, that and making his numbers, as he has often admitted.

It makes a variety of smart points about the White Paper proposals; specifically on:
1. the need to manage change and develop commissioning skills

It has been quite clear now for some time that whatever your question in public sector policy, the answer is mutualism a la the John Lewis Partnership.

It's not a new thing. Neu Labour (itself the John Lewis Partnership version of The People's Party) used mutualism as a fifth ace in policy every time it got into deep shit: the funniest example was Alan Milburn's eleventh-hour efforts to flog foundation trust policy to his own benches as a revival of the co-operative movement. Ahem.