J’accuse! updated – a modern approach to accountability

Accountability is meaningless when the finger of suspicion and blame can move in a week from a single “rogue” reporter to the Chairman of News Corporation. In a situation where potentially all are held accountable in this random way, no one is accountable. Caroline Oliver a friend of MAC... 
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Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people – not just staff

Who says consultations don’t make a difference?  Going through the detail of Wednesday’s announcement about the way forward on the NHS reforms in England, reveals that Government has thought better of what was always a daft idea in the Liberating the NHS white paper about the regulation of healthcare... 
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Owner Voices in Public Services

In the summer we asked Whose NHS IS It Anyway? and answered that in the NHS Allliance’s  eponymous manifesto.  The way the Coalition Government’s policy is developing, we should now be extending the ownership question to all  public services.  The main reason is this: the flip side of  the... 
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Ownership Matters in Foundation Trusts

Creating “the largest and most vibrant social enterprise sector in the world” particularly by giving more freedom to Foundation Trusts is a key objective of the policy blitz known as Liberating the NHS (in England).   Mr Lansley has also said FTs would have ‘characteristics’ of social enterprise,... 
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Whose NHS Is It Anyway?

What does it mean to be one of the owners of the most important public service this country has?  Most people using the NHS don’t think about that question and neither do the 1m+ people who work in it.  That’s a big part of the problem and that is what has to change if the NHS is to meet the demands... 
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The May Newsletter: A Spring Fever of Politics and Participation Possibilities

Overcooked Rhubarb Rhetoric Politicos have gone mad for it – so many of the election issues and debating points are about citizen engagement  and involvement. We have characterised elections as the biggest citizen participation opportunity going although as we pointed out in our  blog straight... 
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