MikeL2 asks about the pledge to protect NHS frontline budgets.

NHS frontline budgets are derived from PCT budgets. They have been told to find £15 Billion in savings. The economy drive is known as QUIP, (may not have got that quite right, but google it or visit the HSJ website for more info.)

On top of the £15 Billion direct NHS savings, the Department of Health budget is being slashed by 33%. Many pump priming monies for starting new better ways of delivering NHS services come from this budget.

So.. it is a bit difficult for NHS leaders at present. You have Ministers taking away more money than most of the other government departments, and back benchers crying that the NHS should shoulder more savings.

Delivering that agenda whist Ministers rattle on about cutting out management. My view, based on having chaired a couple of NHS trusts etc etc is that rather than too many managers, (which to be fair, in head count I agree,) there is not enough management capacity to deliver.

On the plus side. 15 years ago, I was asked to look at NHS governance, having been CEO of a group of manufacturing companies, (or fatcat, as some prefer to label us,) and have been involved ever since. I have seen huge improvements, not only in safety / quality / outcomes, but also efficiency, cutting waste, channelling resource to where it can do most good, and importantly, bringing clinicians into managing and taking responsibility for their work. The NHS is in many way a good news story. It is easy to get all Daily Mail and find examples of people being let down, but with 1,000,000 patient to clinician decisions every 36 hours.... if you filled a newspaper every day with examples of genuine fault that is devastating for a patient, that is still a success rate of 99.9998%.

I wish Sheffield Wednesday could achieve that..

Spending cuts? La La Lansley is risking buggering up the one thing that is improving in the public sector, mainly in spite of rather than because of Ministers.