NHS Doom-saying, is it contagious?

You know it’s serious when the BBC starts its feature on the challenges ahead for the NHS with this ominous sentence: “The NHS is arguably facing its most challenging period since it was created in 1948.”  Why are they cranking up the NHS Doomsday Machine?  What they are trying to... 
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Annex heavy Mandate is “Involvement lite”

PPI – what’s in a name?  Think you know what it means?  Don’t be so sure.  We don’t mean “Proton Pump Inhibitor” or “Payment Protection Insurance” – or even “Pirate Parties International” which is causing a stir in some EU member state... 
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CCG driving seat is shared space

Is this seat taken? If you mean the much-touted “CCG driving seat”, then definitely “yes”.  The driving seat for this commissioning road trip is “shared space”.  According to Pulse, that’s a reason for wailing and rending of garments.  It surveyed 100 CCGs (out of 212) and found... 
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The Civil Mr Ferguson Cleans the Beach – July Newsletter

In his last Reith Lecture, Niall Ferguson asked whether nations can flourish in the absence of a vibrant civil society. He tells us of his efforts to clear the beach in front of his house – a success thanks to the involvement of volunteers well-organised by the local Lions Club. Otherwise he painted... 
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Save shared decision making from the shambles

Was it conspiracy or just more of the usual cock-up (the predominant explanation for most things that go wrong in public life)?  Whatever the explanation, Government certainly seems to have got things seriously wrong in its latest consultation about “shared decision making”, which is supposed to... 
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Patient participation web resources

Partner Caroline Millar and I recently had the pleasure of talking to practice managers in Westminster (or “Central London Clinical Commissioning Group” as it is now called) about the range of possibilities for patient participation in primary care.   As part of that, we put together a links... 
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Almost an Anniversary?

In this mood and moment of national partying, I looked back to see if we could invoke an excuse to celebrate the MAC blog history  but the fact that it is 8 years and 9 months since our first blog does not give us a date that can be easily labelled  – “Almost 9 Years of Blogging”... 
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Get More Engagement SMARTs

Now you can get even smarter about engagement by reading three new titles published this week in the Smart Guides to Engagement series from DH and NHS Networks.  That brings the series up to 10 titles.   The latest additions include Building public support for change by Tim Gilling of Centre for Public... 
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Managed Care Swiss Style – will voters buy it?

The World Health Organisation Annual Assembly was in Geneva last week. I am sure great issues were discussed – Le Temps asked if the planned reorganisation had any traction. Accusations were made that the organisation had been captured by private interests, lost its independance and that the whole... 
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Get Smart about Engagement

The DH and NHS Networks have made it easy to get smart about engagement with their Smart Guides to Engagement series.  Six titles published already and more in the pipeline.  They are aimed at clinical commissioning groups in particular – but are useful for anyone in health and social care who... 
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