Health Matters | Paul Corrigan's blog

This whole Bill is the best example I can think of for why a compelling narrative matters…

A few years ago the idea that a Government’s major policies needed a compelling narrative seemed to get a bad name. People felt it was somehow ‘shady’ to provide an overall explanation for major reform programmes such as that planned for the NHS. In particular New Labour was criticised for spending too much time thinking about how best to communicate its reasons for reforming public services. Many people said at the time that this concern with the need for a compelling narrative in some way ‘cheapened’ policy. Read the rest of this entry »

Regular readers of the blog will not be surprised that I am returning to the problem of the Government’s narrative about the NHS. What story is it trying to tell? Read the rest of this entry »

In the last week, two different people have independently told me of conversations they have had with Tory MPs concerning the direction of Conservative politics for the NHS in a few years time.

The story begins with the politics of the NHS becoming increasingly difficult for the Tories. Whilst they have put the reforms to bed, the next few years are going to see increasing political strife about ‘cuts’ in the NHS.  These will be firmly linked in the public mind with the role of the Conservative Government. In reality they will have been caused by an unreformed NHS failing to improve its productivity or value for money. Read the rest of this entry »

The dust is settling on the Government’s U turn on NHS reforms (referred to by my old boss Alan Milburn as the biggest car crash in NHS policy history). As the view becomes a little clearer it’s possible to see what was there before the winds blew dust in our faces. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week Whitehall was awash with rumours about the policy deals that had been completed with their resulting amendments to the redrafted Health and Social Care Bill. Parliament too was full of rumours about the political changes that had been completed in order to get the Bill through (or alternatively kill it off).

Others are better placed to blog about this gossip, what I want to do this week is to try and work out two political and two policy issues. Read the rest of this entry »

I was pleased to notice that the Guardian, in its editorial on the Tuesday 17^th, picked up on the odd way in which the Prime Minister talks about how much he loves the NHS.

Back in April I mentioned the very strange leaflet that was produced by the Government (using public money for what was a profoundly political leaflet) which went on rather oddly about how much they love the NHS. Read the rest of this entry »

This ‘listening exercise’ – even if it is not a serious attempt by the Government to change course – does give the rest of us two months to mobilise both policy and argument for sensible reform after this 11 month disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

Luckily this blog does not have to engage too deeply with the politics surrounding the Coalition Government’s policy on public expenditure cuts. That means the efficacy or otherwise of last Saturday’s TUC march and the Labour Opposition’s policy on the cuts is not a core issue for us. Read the rest of this entry »

As I said in my blog on July 26^th “Liberation through conscription will not work.” Making GPs do something that they don’t want to is and was a recipe for disaster. Since there are some GPs who are , in the current Secretary of State’s words, ’enthusiastic’ about commissioning working with them will move the policy forward. Making those who don’t want to commission was daft then and is daft now. Read the rest of this entry »

Friday saw the clearest media analysis I have found of what is right and what is wrong with the Government’s NHS reforms.

The FT doesn’t allow me to simply copy any of their articles so I must respect that, but if you can find a copy of it, or are registered with the FT, it’s really well worth a read. Read the rest of this entry »