Another one bites the dust

[摘要] Without the fanfare that accompanied its birth, the idea of the NHS University quietly faded away as 2004 drew to a close. It was always a barmy idea (this column, December 2001) that everyone from cleaners to consultants would be trained, if not under the same roof, then by the same organisation. The Guardian described the NHS University as a ‘brainchild’ of Alan Milburn, and the death of this child will, according to the Guardian's headline, be part of the health service's savings of £500 million per year. Which is all very well, but even more money would have been saved if sense had taken precedence over ill-judged enthusiasm in the first place. Other ‘savings’ will come from the axing (the Guardian's word) of the NHS Modernisation Agency. I visited the Agency's headquarters in Leicester a couple of years ago. They were impressive. Airy, smart, nice carpets, the latest computer publishing equipment: everything you could need for getting out the government's message. I was given a glossy booklet full of examples of how we could learn from examples of good practice. I was stirred by the story of a group of specialist diabetic nurses, who realised they would be more efficient if they had more than one blood sugar monitor between the eight of them.

[学科分类] 卫生学