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All posts by Adrian Barker

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Private sector in the NHS

There seem to have been a number of examples recently of increasing private sector involvement in the health services.  For instance, American company Palantir is said to be in the running to provide the overarching NHS Federated Data Platform, apparently with no public consultation.  Then

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Shared accountability in partnerships

We’ve got solar panels and an electric car.  Which is great.  We fuel a good proportion of our mileage on pure smugness. However … there’s a setting on the charger that lets you charge the car only when there’s an adequate surplus, so you’re just

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Self, other, group, system

A recurring thought over the last year has been the question of whether the work I do locally, on a voluntary basis, has any significant impact.  In my reflections on that, I have tried to be even handed and note that while there are problems

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What the NHS needs is more bureaucrats

It’s a familiar cry – the NHS needs staff at the front line and fewer bureaucrats and administrators.  Or as it was put to me the other day, with a little re-writing for political correctness – “we need fewer chiefs and more ‘native Americans’”. I’d

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Covid 19, Plan B and other causes of dea

The Government has been under pressure from various sources to implement their ‘Plan B’ to reduce Covid cases.  This would involve things like mandated mask wearing in crowded places, vaccination passports and encouraging working from home.  Up until now the Government has resisted these calls

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How can I be a better volunteer?

I spend about three and a half days a week doing voluntary or unpaid work.  A couple of things recently (writing an article and attending an event) have prompted me to consider how volunteers are used and how to get more out of them.  However,