Peter D Toon's blog

   Rescuging the NHS In February some friends and colleagues, and their friends and colleagues, signed a letter to the then Opposition leaders pointing out that saving the NHS was not jsut a matter of pouring more money in. It needed a change of culture. An edited version of this letter was published in the British Journal of General Practice last month. For those who may not be able to access this that text is pasted below. Since then Lord Darzi has published his report on the state of the NHS .Fortunately for those who lack the stamina to read 163 pages stuffed with figures and graphs, he has also prepared a letter summarising his findings . Although phrased differently many of his findings, particularly his call for greater engagement of patients and NHS staff and the reduction in ineffective and excessive regulation, reflect our concerns. The Government has promised to develop a ten year plan to address his findings over the next six months. It is the nature of the B...

New Year, New Blog   I set up this blog a year or so ago, but what with one thing and another (mostly writing two novellas) I never got round to doing anything with it. Having been linked to academic institutions most of my life I always feel the year starts in September rather than January, April 5th or Advent Sunday, a view reinforced by the time I spend in France where this is the Rentrée, when not just schools and universities but most social organisations start a new year of activities. Therefore now seems a good time to make a start with my blog.  There is a nice paradox in marking a new beginning when the leaves are starting to turn and nature is beginning to shut down for the winter.  Whilst she was imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots embroidered the words "En ma Fin gît mon Commencement..."- In my End is my Beginning… ; a phrase T S Eliot in Four Quartets, a set of poems all about beginnings and ends, turned round:.   What we call the beginning is...