I’ve just come back from a Health Service Journal conference of medics, where all manner
of subjects came up. One audience member asked what historical event stood comparison to Lansley’s mishandling of the Health Bill. What else has caused so much controversy, to such little purpose?
No one knew.
Many of those present — senior doctors, NHS executives, etc — knew Lansley, and everyone seemed to agree that he is a policy wonk fatally miscast as Health Secretary. Politics is about making and winning arguments; whereas Lansley wanted to work on details so complex that, even now, almost no one in government can explain what is being done. The Bill may have made progress in the Lords, but it’s too late: the enemies of reform have already defined Lansley’s policy for him. If passed, it will be blamed for everything that goes wrong in the NHS from now.
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