Spinning to deceive
The colossal debts which continue to beset the NHS in the East of England are overseen by a Strategic Health Authority. There is now such an atmosphere of fear and anxiety in the NHS that each and every element of the health service has so-called communications staff who are very costly indeed.
Scandalously, the Strategic Health Authority, which has had no grip on the region’s health finance crisis, spends £750,000 a year on public relations. If you add up the rest it is over £1.2 million. It is part of the culture which starts in 10 Downing Street and has permeated into every corner of our public services. It is so insulting to the magnificent people who actively keep the NHS running.
Fear haunts the land. A few weeks ago I had a long discussion with a certain NHS functionary after which I read back what we had discussed, and confirmed that the problem as explained to me was correct. When this issue attracted local media interest, what I said and checked was rejected as wrong and inaccurate by the self-same individual. You see, it wasn’t yet another triumphant success story so beloved of the NHS spin machine. It was the truth. So he bottled out. The spirit of Alistair Campbell lurks today in countless places and costs the taxpayer a great deal of money. Some radical surgery is required.