Sir Chris Ham

Co-Chair NHS Assembly, Emeritus Prof Uni of Birmingham. Health policy and management wonk. Walking, cycling, reading, thinking. Also on [email protected]

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

the NHS has been in decline since 2010 because successive govts have failed to heed the warning signs of deteriorating performance https://t.co/0Lz7uUKfXf

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

Italy in Wales

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

Interesting and different take on Starmer and the failure of followers https://t.co/4UrpTJzeK0

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@HodgeBank I’m deeply unimpressed with your customer service after request to withdraw savings. Caveat emptor everyone

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@lowcarbGP The most important member of the health care team is the person seeking care

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

The train arriving is 2 years late

[Darren Jones MP @darrenpjones]

Each department in government will now have its own delivery unit, led by a senior civil servant. And every Secretary of State and Minister of State will be given a new “delivery advisor” in their private office to support this work.

These new delivery functions will be accountable to both their Secretary of State and to my team.

This builds on my recent work setting up the new joint No10 and Cabinet Office Delivery Unit.

Read more: https://t.co/Y1KiM7kuvf

[Robert Ford @robfordmancs]

The electoral valley of death

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

Totally surreal situation now:

1) Wes Streeting was preparing to launch today but may now delay because he is said to be struggling to get the numbers. His people deny this - they say he has the numbers - but say that things have changed and more cabinet ministers are going over the top and pressing for Starmer to go. But...

2) Keir Starmer insists he is going nowhere. The number calling for him to go remains at 92 - where it's been for the last 24 hours - equivalent to nearly a third of backbenchers. His allies say that good news on economy and NHS makes his case for him. He is going fo fight on

3) Enter Angela Rayner. The former Deputy PM says she has been cleared by HMRC and doesn't rule out a challenge is Streeting succeeds in triggering a contest

3) None of this is remotely sustainable. How can you have a senior Cabinet minister publicly positioning himself for a run at Number 10? How can you have a third of backbenchers publicly calling for the PM to go.

4) Someone - either Streeting or Starmer - will have to give. Otherwise the government is going to be paralysed for the forseeable future, with Starmer in office but fighting for his life and Streeting ready to go but refraining from firing the starting gun.

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

Who else leaves @DHSCgovuk and who takes their place? Big changing of the guard at crucial time

[Ben Judah @b_judah]

Starmer's authority is now crumbling. But even those most committed to a new Prime Minister should pause for thought about what it means for Britain in the world. For all his many, many domestic missteps, Keir Starmer has genuinely led on Ukraine, make tough calls with Trump and rebuilt relations with Europe by working intensely with President Macron and Chancellor Merz.

Labour in government was shocked at how quickly it was swamped by foreign affairs from Gaza and Ukraine, to Trump and Iran. This isn't going to change. However Starmer's challengers have no foreign policy experience, no geopolitical worldviews, no foreign affairs teams and no experience in explaining our place in the world and its tumult to the public. But if they succeed that will be half their job.

What's the plan for a geopolitical pivot to Europe? What's the strategy to deal with Trump and our fragmenting Western alliance as China's Axis of Authoritarians deepens? What's next for Britain's extensive diplomatic and security role when it comes to Ukraine? Who will be maintaining key connections to the White House?

Changes at the top are often necessary. But they are delicate and not cost free internationally. In diplomacy so much is bound up in personal connections and trust built up over time. Building since 2016, these musical chairs at the top have now become so intense, with Prime Ministers lasting roughly two years and Foreign Secretaries now annuals, our allies and partners are frustrated. I've heard from European and Gulf leaderships first hand it is hardly worth investing diplomatically in a counterpart who's suddenly gone and thus hardly worth investing in Britain.

[Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn]

There is an escape route for Labour from certain disaster at the general election: use their Commons majority to ram through PR. It’s cynical, + they’d never govern alone again, but it locks Reform out of No10. The left (Lab, Gr, LD) still have a majority over the right in the UK

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

must read on the politics of public health reform

Inside Number 10: The Politics Behind The Smoking Ban | The King's Fund https://t.co/WhnbdjDBkm

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

must read on the politics of public health reform Inside Number 10: The Politics Behind The Smoking Ban | The King's Fund

[Ismael Sanz @sanz_ismael]

"Escribir es pensar". Escribir nos obliga a pensar, no de forma caótica y desordenada, sino de manera estructurada e intencionada. Artículo de Nature que señala que es una herramienta para descubrir nuevas ideas https://t.co/N8o8zVvsnE

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@wesstreeting your most important legacy may well be Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Shout it from rooftops! @pollytoynbee @natashaloder @RSylvester1

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@jburnmurdoch @John_Stepek Where do persistent inequalities in health fit into this assessment? Is reducing inequalities the best route to improving popn health following work of @MichaelMarmot and others?

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@NickCohen4 @adwooldridge It’s been the story for several years but few people have paid attention - go back to Wanless in 2002 and various reports from @MichaelMarmot on inequalities. Requires cross govt action and long term vision and commitment to tackle. In short supply…

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@parthaskar @HealthFdn @KamranAbbasi @DrLKVaughan @DrAsifQasim @DrSelvarajah @DrSteveTaylor @doctor_katie @ShivaniM_KC @DrAmirKhanGP @iDrSunny @doctor_oxford These reports are reminding us of the time and not taking us far in making improvements

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

@kchalkidou @JeremyFarrar This is not inevitable. The national health inequalities strategy in England in the 2000s brought measurable reduction in inequalities. Requires cross govt action and long term commitment based on political leadership

[Sir Chris Ham @profchrisham]

Expecting Tobacco and Vapes Bill to receive Royal Assent. Big day for public health when it happens @wesstreeting

[@DrKatie.BSky.Social @doctor_katie]

Good work w @NHSEngland & @DHSCgovuk re: referral processes

This isn’t a ‘win’ it’s what it should always have been

Next: the need for a safety framework when we face exceptional demand

Secure that & we start on the new contract

Alternative?
GP Collective Action from May 1st