A mixed range of opinions posted in July and early August. I offered the NHS a new rock anthem ‘Turn Me Loose and Set Me Free’ to celebrate as the NHS moves from targets to devolved responsibilities under the new Constitution. David Nicholson the NHS Chief Executive told patient and user representatives to ’cause more trouble’.
Andrew Craig delved into the EU directive on health without frontiers with a reminiscence about handling a complaint for reimbursing a patient who saved her hearing by going off to France for an operation which the NHS kept promising but never delivered. He concluded that health travel would broaden the minds of British patients and vice versa. And acute trusts here looking to keep up their balance sheets would do well to consider where the waiting lists were longest in member states as health travel will work both ways. Fleishman-Hillards’ blog “Public Affairs 2.0” picked this up and gave it pride of place in its review of blogosphere opinions about the directive.
Two blog pieces also looked at activity outside the UK with the first written from Canada on current obsessions with detached body parts and how Canada’s best selling newspaper approached reader representation. The other looks at the way one Ontario hospital does its follow-up questionnaires for in-patients 4 weeks or so after they have gone home.
Closer to home, MAC’s Caroline Millar and Rebecca Macnair went on the day of the NHS 60th birthday to the parliamentary launch of the motor neurone disease year of care pathway commissioning tool. This culmination of two years work with the MND Association was praised by Baroness Finlay, professor of palliative care at Cardiff University, as “one of the most important pieces of helpful documentation I have seen for patient care [whose] beauty is its simplicity.” Now we embark with our clients on the implementation phase, including action research with four pairs of NHS and local authority commissioners as they put the commissioning tool into practice. This should produce a rich learning stream about how statutory organisations work together, with 3rd sector bodies and most importantly with patients and carers to improve quality - Lord Darzi are you listening? Belated Happy Birthday NHS.
Colin Adamson
Partner
The Moore Adamson Craig Partnership
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