NHS
The NHS was great for Girl, but I still don’t like it
When Girl came off the horse it didn’t look like a bad fall. More like an involuntary and rather hurried…
Out of the ashes
Our firefighters have less and less to do. So why shouldn’t they help overstretched ambulance services?
Stop health tourism
Speaking after the Stafford hospital scandal in 2010, the then newly appointed Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, grandly announced plans for…
Real life
Surely it can be no coincidence that the road by which one enters St George’s Hospital, Tooting, is called Effort…
Real life
Insomnia has a lot to answer for. I have not been sleeping well for years but a few months ago…
Poor form
Against the customer service Q&A
Imposter syndrome
Andy Burnham is the Labour establishment’s choice as the next party leader. So why does he feel like an outsider?
Letters
The long arm of the FBI Sir: The White House may be less willing than it was to play the…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, toured Europe trying to gain support for reforms to favour Britain’s position in the…
Doctors’ orders
Don’t drink, don’t smoke, keep fit, die young
Big fat myths
Obesity isn’t soaring, and it doesn’t strain the NHS
Portrait of the week
Home A Bill to enable a referendum on whether voters wanted Britain to ‘remain’ in the European Union figured in…
The importance of selective inefficiency
Readers of a certain age may remember choosing a cassette player in the 1980s. In theory the process was simple:…
Miliband’s tablet of stone may cost him my vote
You have the advantage over me. You know the result of the general election, whereas I do not — a…
Long life
It’s more than four months now since my 75th birthday, but I’m still waiting for a ‘cold call’ from the…
Letters
Enemies within Sir: I thought Matthew Parris was typically incisive in his last column, but perhaps not quite as much…
Portrait of the week
Home Launching the Conservative party manifesto, David Cameron, the party leader, told voters he wanted to ‘turn the good news…
Diary
To the dentist. And for an extraction. I hadn’t had a tooth out in decades. But the twinges when I…
Call me insane, but I’m voting Labour
Quite often when I deliver myself of an opinion to a friend or colleague, the reply will come back: ‘Are…
Portrait of the week
Home Tony Blair, the former prime minister, opposed a referendum on membership of the EU. In a speech at Sedgefield…
The actor-commentariat
I’ve never been terribly keen on actors. I prefer hairdressers and accountants. And teachers and builders and lawyers. I may…
Healthy ambition
Andy Burnham on the NHS, ‘mainstream Labour’ and his party’s leadership
Healing the NHS
To adapt Aeschylus’s aphorism on war and truth, the first casualty in a general election campaign is objectivity. Over the…
Real life
My request to see my medical notes was granted in the end. I honestly don’t know why I wanted to…
Let Greece go
To listen to Greek government ministers addressing the outside world during their breaks from negotiations with eurozone leaders this week,…
