You don’t speak French, My Black Cat?

Nether you do…

You want to know the origin of the word “triage.”

It comes from the french verb “trier” which means to sort.

The principle of triage was in use in the battlefield well over a century ago. It was used in the Napoleonic wars but the procedure was not given the name “triage” until WW1.

Now, My Black Cat, you must not allow yourself to be confused by a term that is not in your language.

Triage is really a form of rationing.

And you know what rationing means.

It was always intended to be used in wartime when there were not enough resources to treat the wounded. It could also be used in peacetime during a calamity such as an earthquake or an epidemic.

Old Napoleon would be turning in his grave if he thought it was being used during peacetime in civilized countries to ration everyday patient care.

Patients would not like it if they were wheeled into an A and E department and told they were going to see the “Rationing Receptionist.”

They might prefer to see a “Rationing Nurse.”

Or better still a “Rationing Doctor”

Most patients don’t like any of these terms, so The Humankind use the word “triage” instead of “rationing.”

So we have “Triage Nurses” and “Triage Doctors” and that keeps everyone happy.

If you really, really want to ration so that you can get some kind of superior status for your hospital by showing you are a Super-Saver of money, or if you are a Chief Executive who wants brownie points on his/her CV, then it seems to be good idea to have a “Triage Receptionist.”

“Triage Receptionists” are cheaper to employ.

You might say they are “Lean”

They are part of The Rationing Ethos, My Black Cat.

You could give them all white coats to wear and tell them to cut off the sleeves so they all look the same. And then no-one would have a clue who was rationing them.

You could even get rid of the word Doctor, Nurse or Receptionist.

You could be triaged by a Competent Clinical Decision-maker.

There, My Black Cat, how does that sound?

That is a term loved by The Royal College of Physicians in London.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

Who’s this, My Black Cat?

“You have run out of our money”

“Every British child is born owing around £20,000. Servicing the interest on that dept is going to cost more that educating the child.”

You say you feel almost sorry for Mr Brown, My Black Cat.

Do you suppose we should try to help him save some of the money that is being squandered on useless activities in the NHS as well as the ones that are not built on a good evidence base?

Eh?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

You will recollect, My Black Cat, that Dr Shirine Boardman, a consultant diabetic specialist was sacked seemingly after sending names and addresses of diabetic patients from the hospital where she worked to a community centre linked to the NHS where she also worked. She played a major role in developing this centre. ie one might conclude she effectively sent the data from herself to herself.

She transferred the information in order to invite these patients to attend the community centre so they might benefit from the services offered.

So it seems an action designed to help diabetics, many of them her own patients, cost her her job.

It’s OK though, if a government produces a multitude of illegal databases and does what the hell it likes with them.

Will there be any sackings then?

Of course not!

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd have published a report called “The Database State” which classifies UK held databases into RED, AMBER OR GREEN.

GREEN DATABASES

They are broadly in line with the law.

The report says:

“Some of these databases have operational problems, not least due to the recent cavalier attitude toward both privacy and operational security, but these could be fixed once transparency, accountability and proper risk management are restored”

“Six years into the Transformational Government programme, the number of green databases is now shockingly low. Of the 46 databases assessed in this report, only six are given a green light”

AMBER DATABASES

“AMBER means that a database has significant problems, and may be unlawful. Depending on the circumstances, it may need to be shrunk, or split, or individuals may have to be given a right to opt out. An incoming government should order an independent assessment of each system to identify and prioritise necessary changes.”

The following are 2 of the 29 Amber Databases

“The NHS Summary Care Record, which will ‘initially’ hold information such as allergies and current prescriptions, although some in the Department of Health appear to want to develop it into a full electronic health record that will be available nationally. In Scotland, where the SCR project has been completed, there has lready been an abuse case in which celebrities had their records accessed by a doctor who is now facing charges. The Prime Minister’s own medical records were reported compromised. There is some doubt about whether patients will be able to opt out effectively from this system, and if they cannot, it will be downgraded to red;

The National Childhood Obesity Database, which is the largest of its kind in the world, containing the results of height and weight measurements taken from school pupils in Year 1 (age 5–6) and Year 6 (10–11) since 2005. This database is simply unnecessary;”

RED DATABASES

“Red means that a database is almost certainly illegal under human rights or data protection law and should be scrapped or substantially redesigned. The collection and sharing of sensitive personal data may be disproportionate, or done without our consent, or without a proper legal basis; or there may be other major privacy or operational problems. Most of these systems already have a high public profile. One of them (the National DNA Database) has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, and both the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats have promised to scrap many of the others.

The following are the RED databases:

The National DNA Database, which holds DNA profiles for approximately 4 million individuals, over half a million of whom are innocent (they have not been convicted, reprimanded, given a final warning or cautioned, and have no proceedings pending against them) – including more than 39,000 children;

The National Identity Register, which will store biographical information, biometric data and administrative data linked to the use of an ID card;

ContactPoint, which is a national index of all children in England. It will hold biographical and contact information for each child and record their relationship with public services, including a note on whether any ‘sensitive service’ is working with the child;

The NHS Detailed Care Record, which will hold GP and hospital records in remote servers controlled by the government, but to which many care providers can add their own comments, wikipedia-style, without proper control or accountability; and the Secondary Uses Service, which holds summaries of hospital and other treatment in a central system to support NHS administration and research;

The electronic Common Assessment Framework, which holds an assessment of a child’s welfare needs. It can include sensitive and subjective information, and is too widely disseminated;

ONSET, which is a Home Office system that gathers information from many sources and seeks to predict which children will offend in the future;

The DWP’s cross-departmental data sharing programme, which involves sharing large amounts of personal information with other government departments and the private sector;

The Audit Commission’s National Fraud Initiative, which collects sensitive information from many different sources and under the Serious and Organised Crime Act 2007 is absolved from any breaches of confidentiality;

The communications database and other aspects of the Interception Modernisation Programme, which will hold everyone’s communication traffic data such as itemised phone bills, email headers and mobile phone location history;

The Prüm Framework, which allows law enforcement information to be shared between EU without proper data protection.”

So, My Black Cat, who do you suppose is culpable?

Dr Boardman or Her Majesty’s Government?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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22 March 2009

Dear Mr Brown, Mr Johnson and Mr Bradshaw,

RE: THE NURSE EXPERIENCE OF THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE

Another Golden Apple to help you to understand what is happening in your NHS.

The Witch Doctor is taking you by the hand to The Coalface.

Meet Nurse Anne.

However, a word of warning before you read this. Nurse Anne seems to carry the same gene as Dr Rant. No doubt they have a common ancestor from the past.

You will need to brace yourself and be less precious than Professors Paice, Needham and Black regarding the culture of Swear Blogging.

It’s just a dialect, for goodness sake!

HELL IN STAFFORDSHIRE

CCU? ME? WTF! PART 1

CLIP-BOARD CARRYING WASTES OF SPACE

NURSES AND STRESS

JESSICA’S LETTER

Once you get your head round that everything will begin to make sense.

You will begin to see how Mid-Staffordshire might happen anywhere.

With best wishes,

The Witch Doctor

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE</p

“A spokesperson for IWantGreatCare said:‘A big part of the business is to work with local trusts to provide bespoke systems for monitoring patient experience. It’s effectively taking the free open patient site, using that as a foundation but with other tools to do a bespoke analysis service for local trusts.’

Bespoke systems for monitoring patient experience!!??

TRUSTS SIGN UP TO CONTROVERSIAL RATE YOUR GP SITE

“And the move comes as Sir Muir Gray, the NHS’ chief knowledge officer and adviser to the Government’s soon-to-be practice-rating site NHS Choices, revealed he had put his own money into the IWantGreatCare project and hailed the site’s founder Dr Neil Bacon as ‘a genius.’

Sir Muir admitted that when the site was first launched ‘the BMA went crazy’, but he insisted that ‘most feedback is positive.’

‘If you can give feedback on a £50 bed and breakfast, you have to be doing it [for GPs],’ he said.”

Muir, laddie, you’re losin’ the plot!

Stick tae yir walkin’ and yir “Behind the Headlines!”

Yir guid at thae kinna things!

An watch whit ye pit yir money oan!

For pity’s sake!

Yir heilan’ granny wid be turnin in hir grave!

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

19 March 2009

Dear Mr Brown, Mr Johnson and Mr Bradshaw,

RE: THE WARNING

Consider this:

a) Lack of basic equipment such as drip sets

b) Lack of adequate support for junior doctors

c) Lack of basic care for patients

d) Repeated DNR [Do not Resuscitate] notices

e) Gross shortage in staffing levels.

Is this familiar to you?

I think it is……….

I could rage about this and go on, and on, and on.

But I am not going to.

THE WARNING

Instead I will give you The Golden Apple. It is fashioned from some of the gold dust that is disseminated throughout the NHS. It symbolises the many golden leaders that you have not acknowledged.

Today the link takes you to a warning that was given loud and clear many years ago concerning healthcare in another hospital in Staffordshire.

You will find The Golden Apple appears frequently from now on.

It may help you with your problems.

And your problems are many.

Yours sincerely,

The Witch Doctor

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

18 March 2009

Dear Mr Brown, Mr Johnson and Mr Bradshaw,

RE: SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND REGARDING THE NEGLECT AND MURDER OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS

Some reading material as promised.

It takes you to the land of The Oldest Sage Witch’s granny.

The land of your birth, Mr Brown.

It concerns something that happened in the early 1970’s.

A young doctor, just out of medical school, reported to senior management in her hospital that patients in the ward she was working in were receiving very poor nursing care. She named the person she felt was responsible. Whether action was taken following her complaint is not known.

Soon afterwards, it was time for the junior doctor to move on, and she continued with her career without any personal repercussions as a result of raising this issue.

A few years later, from the same ward, a nurse called Jessie McTavish was convicted of murdering an 80 year-old patient by injecting her illegally using insulin. There was a suspicion that there may have been several other deaths in this way. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, some months later she was acquitted following a successful appeal.

JESSIE MCTAVISH

In spite of being acquitted, it seems this case is still quoted when teaching nursing students and in 2008 a male nurse, Colin Morris, was found guilty of four murders using insulin. It is said that he was inspired by the McTavish case.

COLIN MORRIS

Some questions.

1. Was any action taken following this young doctor’s allegation of neglect? If not, would events have taken a different course if the matter had been dealt with?

2. Do very junior doctors, fresh from medical school, observe poor practices that their seniors either choose to ignore or simply do not notice?

3. Are systemic failures and neglect responsible for many more patient deaths than those caused at the hands of the rare medical and nursing murderers?

4. Is death by murder more painful and distressing for the deceased that death by systemic failure and neglect?

4. In alerting management to a perceived problem, did that young doctor risk putting her future career at risk?

No doubt you will know the answers to some of these questions.

Tomorrow, during The Witching Hour, I will supply you with some more reading material.

Yours sincerely,

The Witch Doctor

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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There are conspiracies about the charity Common Purpose.

In the past Gordon Brown uses the words “common purpose” quite a lot in his speeches when he is talking about the “New World Order”

Common Purpose, the charity operates under Chatham House Rules.

The Telegraph reports:

“In a speech to the Chatham House thinktank, Mr Brown will urge “a new international system” to help non-nuclear states peacefully acquire the new sources of energy in order to wean them off fossil fuels like oil and so cut their CO2 emissions. “

GORDON BROWN – TELEGRAPH SPEECH ON NUCLEAR POWER

FULL TEXT FROM BBC NEWS

The video exert used in the above link to The Telegraph has been cut.

Here is a longer version of the cut video.

I suppose you think this is all part of The Conspiracy, My Black Cat?

The Witch Doctor will need to talk to you soon about how conspiracy theories develop, My Black Cat.

And maybe she’ll need to talk to Gordon Brown about how to prevent conspiracy theories developing.

Eh?

………

Update:

Hmmm, My Black Cat, the video has gone away.

What’s happening?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

_______________________________________

St Patrick’s Day 2009

Dear Mr Brown, Mr Johnson and Mr Bradshaw,

RE: MID STAFFORDSHIRE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST.

It is high time you received a letter from a witch.

I returned home tonight to hear the news about The Healthcare Commission’s conclusions regarding their investigations into the increased mortality relating to certain conditions in Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

It has been reported that 400 people have died needlessly.

How many near misses were there?

How much suffering?

How much long-term morbidity?

Doubtless the deaths will be the tip of the iceberg.

I have not read the full report but will do so.

However, a count for the words “leader(s)” or “leadership” showed that it occurred 42 times in the document.

Another document, “THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT : NHS NEXT STAGE REVIEW” was also published.

These words occurred 56 times

It seems, therefore, that the opinion is that:

1. Leaders are important within the NHS
2. There is a lack of leadership within that organisation.

The first is true.

The second is false.

Leaders are scattered like gold dust throughout every NHS hospital and GP practice in every region in the UK. You can’t find them. You probably have not spoken to them. These leaders will not be seeking you out either. They avoid management courses if possible, they do not do the committee circuit if they can avoid it and they have no interest whatsoever in becoming one of the great and the good of the medical profession. They are not the ones who are presented to you when you visit a hospital. They will for example be at clinics, in laboratories, in operating theatres or in an endoscopy suite. They will not think your hospital visit is important because they have seen it all before. They will think the plants in the atrium brought in especially to impress you and the entourage of clowns following you is an affront if the hospital you are visiting does not have enough nurses or doctors, patients are not being fed at mealtimes, they are not receiving prescribed medications….. I could go on. They are quiet but determined leaders in their own patch. They do not “Lead Beyond Authority” and they do not “network.” Instead they build up excellent relationships within their own small teams as they interact with respected colleagues in other specialties.

This works.

And they work.

They are the hands on doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who lead by using their intelligence, knowledge, experience, enthusiasm and goodwill to prevent the NHS becoming a circus.

Keeping the show on the road without it turning into a circus can be an uphill struggle for them and from time to time the clowns roll in and undo everything that has been achieved.

It is then that patients die.

Then the leaders have to start all over again.

Any one of these leaders would be able to tell you what would work best in their patch, what is efficient, and what is a waste of money. Each patch is different. One rule does not fit all.

But nobody wants to know.

Until patients die.

Or more correctly, until it is widespread knowledge that patients have died.

I hope, Mr Brown, Mr Johnson, and Mr Bradshaw that you will see today as the turning point of the NHS and you will look around you for the glint of gold that is everywhere – the jobbing doctors and jobbing nurses would be a good place to start.

St Patrick’s Day 2009 might then become a date to remember.

Just as on St Patrick’s Day 2007 the junior doctors in the UK marched and made medical history.

I will write to you all again during the witching hour tomorrow night and provide you with some reading material.

Yours sincerely,

The Witch Doctor.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

_______________________________________

At the close of the year just before The Witch Doctor cast the Ancient Bottle Spell to rejuvenate her aging brain, there was some kind of witching power leading her to consider the importance of The Third Sector in tomorrow’s medicine, and the possibility of it being linked with The Leadership Agenda.

We thought we had found the last piece of the jigsaw to explain everything that was happening in UK Heathcare today.

We thought all we had to do was fit the last piece of the the jigsaw neatly in place, undo the Ancient Bottle Spell, and report back on our conclusions.

Not so.

Instead we found another jigsaw scattered everywhere with every single piece loose and disconnected.

At that time, My Black Cat and I had never heard of Futures, or Project 2020, or The Tomorrow Project. We did not know anything about the link between Futures and USA security. We were completely unaware of PAM. If someone had told us about PAM then, we simply would not have believed it.

We did not know much about Think Tanks or the clout they had with politicians.

At that time we had never heard of Common Purpose, a charity offering leadership courses with a difference. We had never heard of Julia Middleton or her book “Leading Beyond Authority.”

We did not know about the unbelievable conspiracy theories surrounding Common Purpose.

We did know, however, about Neil Bacon, The Pyjama Man and Iwantgreatcare and we wondered if there were agendas and important people behind this website ensuring its survival.

We did know a little about data-mining and had concluded it may be an important aspect of  the massively expensive attempt to computerise and centralise all patient case notes. We also wondered if the proposed “Dementia Clinics” were in fact a data-mining exercise which would be useful in allocating future resources. (yes, we know all the arguments put forward, but we do not really see how the “measurement of early dementia” by a psychologist will really benefit that individual patient).

It is of interest, therefore, to discover there is a link between The Leadership Agenda in the form of Common Purpose, and the doctor rating website Iwantgreatcare with the Third Sector and with data-mining.

My Black Cat and I are now thinking out loud.

Some of our thinking may turn out to be correct, some widely off the mark.

My Black Cat loves exciting conspiracies and gets quite carried away at times. So she is likely to talk rubbish.

We witches, on the other hand, think Creep rather Conspiracy is responsible for most of the strange and awful things that have happened throughout history.

We witches judge people according to their creeping traits.

Anyway, back to iwantgreatcare:

DOC RATINGS SITE MOVES INTO CHARITY WORK

It is likely that four charities will soon link up with Iwantgreatcare:

“Diabetes UK is already signed up with iWantGreatCare, The Stroke Association is finalising details and two others have yet to confirm but are likely to be major charities working in long term conditions such as HIV/AIDS and cardiac care.

The project will involve iWantGreatCare working with the charities to define what matters to patients, posing questions that will capture their experience, and then asking them to rate their care using the website. The data will then be fed back to the charity to use in discussions with primary care trusts commissioning services.”

Will you stop wittering on about conspiracies, My Black Cat.

Yes, yes, I know. Dr Neil Bacon and Sir Cyril Chantler have links  both have links with DNUK and Common Purpose. But that could mean many things. It may even mean nothing at all.

We now know Sir Muir Gray was involved in setting up Iwantgreatcare.

Go away and look for a link between The Third Sector and Common Purpose.

That should keep you out of my way for a while, My Black Cat.

And give me peace.

……………………

Post dated 14 January 2009

My Back Cat, this old witch has two bizarre notions bubbling around in her shrinking brain.

The first is:

“The Third Sector” and what it stands for, is going to turn out to be far more significant than the medical profession imagine at the moment.

I don’t know why.

I don’t know how.

The second is:

“The Third Sector” may be closely linked to “The Leadership Agenda”

I don’t know why.

I don’t know how.

Now, the elderly synapses are wandering about aimlessly at the moment but I know they will make a connection eventually.

Can you set your much younger brain to work on this, My Black Cat.

In the meantime, I’ll try An Ancient Bottle Spell to make The Old Brain young again.

WD THINKING

OOH PROVIDERS WIN A QUARTER OF DARZI CONTRACTS

“Out-of-hours providers have won a raft of contracts for the new wave of GP-led health centres, in a move that looks set to transform their role as providers of primary care.

Almost a quarter of contracts announced so far, among responses from 90 trusts, have gone to out-of-hours organisations, with both private and not-for-profit providers winning multiple bids.

The tenders also saw the private sector encroach further on primary care, with private companies winning 12 of the 48 contracts announced – one behind the 13 won by GP-led consortiums. Almost half of PCTs missed the Government’s 31 December deadline for signing contracts.

Out of hours providers said the awards marked the beginning of a new era of integrated care.”

“Eight centres were awarded to third sector or not-for-profit organisations, with four going to GPs not in a consortium or partnership.”

UPDATE:

More here:

SO WHO WILL BE RUNNING THOSE POLYCLINICS? (1)

SO WHO WILL BE RUNNING THOSE POLYCLINICS? (2)

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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There is only so much a witch can take before cracking up.

The breaking point has been reached!

Last week there was an unsuccessful attempt by some do-gooder GP in the Land of The Picts to recommend that The Chocolate should be taxed!

Do they not realise that this witch would never have been trained as a Witch Doctor if it hadn’t been for The Chocolate?

And she will NEVER EVER allow The Chocolate to be taxed.

So she consulted the very small print in The Book of Spells.

The Spell has worked!

A brand new blog called “Ramblings on Fruit and Chocolate” has condensed out of the ether on to all the computers screens of the universe. It will stay active for ten years before it evaporates. During the decade it will tell you all there is to know about this wonderful vegetable!

Thanks be to the power of The Book of Spells.

Today The Spell tells you how young doctors survived before the European Working Time Directive.

And the crucial part The Chocolate played in this survival.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

______________________________________________

The signs were there from the very beginning.

When Dr Neil Bacon set up Iwantgreatcare.org, he made some rumblings about connections with the GMC and NHS Choices.

The GMC had an article about the site in one of their publications.

Some felt that feedback from iwantgreatcare would eventually be used for revalidation purposes and even referral to the GMC.

At this stage the GMC made some moves to distance themselves from iwantgreatcare.

Shortly after launching the site, a member of the GMC, Professor Christopher Bulstrod, appeared on Iwantgreatcare wearing his pyjamas. He was a gatherer of feedback and the impression in the witching community was that he was “in on it” with Neil Bacon or at least giving him some moral support.

Initially some thought he may have been soliciting positive feedback from patients, then it was realised there was something special about his pyjamas.

This site should have failed. It was and is a facile site and it is insulting to to the medical profession. Who else but Neil Bacon and his cronies would have the audacity to ask a patient whether they trusted their doctor? Accusing a doctor if being untrustworthy is extremely serious. It can mean many things. The libel lawyers Carter-Ruck sent a warning. This did not faze Neil Bacon. Why should it? Were there powerful people in the background looking after him? There must have been.

So, Iwantgreatcare trundled on.

And on.

And on.

But those behind it lay low.

Sir Muir Gray now admits that he was:

“instrumental in setting up Iwantgreatcare.org”

The Prime Minister seems to be cuddling Dr Bacon.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS – Gordon Brown embraces web-rating of healthcare

“The iWantGreatCare team is naturally delighted by the rapid, widespread recognition of the need to harness patient opinion in this way – having been amongst the first to have given NHS Trusts the ability to realise the many benefits of this path to total quality. As contributors to the Darzi Review in this area it is fantastic to see the principles of how to maximise benefits to both patients and healthcare professionals central in these plans.”

You can’t have friends in much higher places than that!

Dr Bacon seems to be part of a networking community called “Common Purpose” whose activities are under the microscope at the moment.

So far so bad.

NOW PLEASE DON’T READ ANY FURTHER OR YOU MAY LOSE THE WILL TO LIVE!

If you decide to read on, then take a deep breath.

Dr Neil Bacon is considered to be a TOP AGENDA SETTER.

He is up there beside Tim Berners-Lee and Steve Jobs.

Dr Neil Bacon is the Number 26 driving force in the silicon world that we live in today.

Such is the Power of the Network.

The Common Purpose network?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

______________________________________________

When Sir Muir Gray makes a comment, people listen.

Read what he says in The Times:

SHOULD WE BE ABLE TO RATE DOCTORS ON LINE?

“I was instrumental in setting up Iwantgreatcare.org, a website for patients to review their doctors, and it works well. One doctor I know advises his patients to leave feedback and the majority of comments are positive.”

So, the flags are unfurling.

It was not just Dr Bacon and The Pyjama Man.

There was at least A. N. Other.

Sir Muir Gray.

Who else?

……………….

UPDATE:

If you’ve clicked on the “Sir Muir Gray” link above it may have left you wondering about the lumpy-bumpy things.

Here they are:

Just in case you don’t get it……

What The Witch Doctor is trying to tell you is that apparent good ideas often have a downside which can transform them into bad ideas.

Enthusiasm does not necessarily result in doing the right thing.

Neither does pragmatism.

“Feedback websites are going to happen anyway………”

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

______________________________________________

Charities, Data-mining, Futures, Horizon Scanning, Networking, Leading Beyond Authority.

All here.

DOC RATINGS SITE MOVES INTO CHARITY WORK

“Dr Neil Bacon, who founded iWantGreatCare, said his company would provide its services free. He said: “We want to develop a huge database on patient’s experience of care of diabetes. Diabetes UK will use that to talk to PCTs and find ways to improve services. This will be patients driving discussions with commissioners.”

John Grummit, vice chair of Diabetes UK, which has more than 170,000 members and is one of the largest patient organisations in Europe, added: “If we can get that momentum going and get that data out there and get that explosion of information used by decision makers it would be a big change.”

Here are some important people who turned out to hear what was going on.

“The event was attended by Sir Muir Gray, chief knowledge officer of the NHS, Sir Cyril Chantler, chair of The King’s Fund and Sir Donald Irvine, chair of Picker Europe, as well as PCT and acute trust directors.”

What you are seeing here is the Power of The Network, My Black Cat.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

______________________________________________

Gordon Brown is wooing the nursing profession.

Why?

Just ask why?

With anything concerning this government, just ask why?

FUTURE OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COMMISSION OF EXPERTS TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF PATIENT CARE

“The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery will build on the existing work identified in Lord Darzi’s report High Quality Care for All and consider how nurses can further improve safety, champion high quality patient care and give nurses and midwives more freedom to manage, commission and run their own services. All branches of nursing and midwifery will be considered including health visitors, mental health and learning disability nurses and paediatric nurses.”

BROWN – WE WANT TO PUT NURSES IN CONTROL

“The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery explicitly aims to help put nurses in control of services and the direction of policy. It is a recognition of the government’s belief that nursing is the most ‘forward thinking’ group of healthcare professionals.

‘We are in the market for new and bold ideas’, said a government source.”

So, nurses are the most forward thinking group of healthcare professionals.

Are they?

Or do they need to be seen to be?

Is it necessary that the government promotes this image to the voters for some reason?

The power of suggestion?

My Black Cat thinks it’s a Conspiracy.

Doubtless The Nursing Profession will be flattered by this attention and think it is a welcome change.

The Medical Profession may or may not. Some may think it is a Cock-up.

The Witch Doctor is not raising an eyebrow in surprise, because now The Creep is creeping according to The Grand Plan.

Clever Creep with more than a dash of sleekitness.

Why does the Witch Doctor think this is Sleekit Creep?

I just do.

Some day I might tell you why nurses HAVE to be promoted as the most forward thinking of the healthcare professionals.

But not yet.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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When things go the shape of a pear………

Generally, members of the medical profession think it’s a Cock-up.

Generally, Black Cats think it’s a Conspiracy.

Generally witches think it’s Creep.

Sometimes The Creep comes with a bit of built-in sleekitness which makes it resemble a conspiracy.

But it is Creep nevertheless.

Power and Greed leading to Dominance are often the forces behind The Creep.

Sometimes The acquisition of great wealth helps sustain the Position of Power.

Sometimes, giving a proportion of the acquired wealth away again helps sustain the Position of Power.

Not always but sometimes.

The forces behind the Creep may not be recognised by the Creepers themselves.

Creepers sometimes think of themselves of Benevolent Leaders.

And their acts may be Charitable.

Sometimes fear is the motivation behind The Creep.

These Creepers are not Leaders but Followers.

You might say, therefore, that doctors have the most benevolent and black cats the most sinister interpretation of pear-shaped situations.

You might say witches are the moderate ones. We just watch and wait until we are sure we have identified Creep.

We witches cannot change your world. It is not our world.

We can but warn.

So, when things go pear-shaped, are you a doctor, a black cat, or a witch?

Will you listen to the witches when they warn?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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So, My Black Cat, you have found two doctors who seem to be associated with Common Purpose.

And you think you have found a third.

What is this doctor’s name?

Neil Bacon.

From Oxford.

You think he is a doctor?

Bacon must be a very common surname in the Oxford area, My Black Cat.

We already know a Dr Bacon from that part of the country.

The same Dr Bacon who is known to Dr Crippen and The Jobbing Doctor

Where did you get this information, My Black Cat?

It was hidden in an archive somewhere deep inside an Internet Black Hole?

Don’t go there again, My Black Cat, you can get caught up in a tangled mass of dangerous cobwebs in these Cyber Black Holes.

And get gobbled up by a giant Cyber-spider.

They are not places for witches cats.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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You have managed to acquire a copy of “The Common Purpose” book, My Black Cat.

“Leading Beyond Authority,” by Julia Middleton.

Well?

Have you read it yet?

No, but there is a list of participants in the book at the end.

What kind of participants, My Black Cat?

Well, much of the book seems to be an account of profound things that important people in society have said.

They’ll be some witches mentioned there then?

With their profound thoughts?

No?

Hmm….

They have ignored the witches………

How many profound, thoughtful leaders have contributed to the book?

About 80 or 90.

What is the background of these profound thoughtful leaders?

They represent very important people throughout a cross section of society.

Are there any doctors mentioned?

I can only see two so far.

Who are they?

Sir Cyril Chantler, Chair, Great Ormond Street Hospital”

Dame Gill Morgan, Chief Executive, NHS Federation”

Does that mean they are Common Purpose Graduates, My Black Cat?

Don’t know……

I suppose all that can be said is that they are close enough to Julia Middleton, to agree to be quoted in her book “Leading Beyond Authority”

You might say then, whether graduates or not, they are rubber-stamping “Common Purpose” and giving it authority and indeed agreeing with the concept of “Leading Beyond Authority.”

My Black Cat, does Sir Cyril Chantler not have something to do with “DNUK” and the “Media Standards Trust” too?

Was it not Sir Cyril Chantler that Professor Lis Paice contacted over scatological language on DNUK?

Yes. That is so. Sir Cyril Chantler refers to Professor Paice as his friend.

How do you know that, My Black Cat.

He told The Bishops.

Eh??

What are you blethering about, My Black Cat.

NB “blethers” was a word used on the Radio 5 programme by Andrew Cubie, to describe the conspiracies surrounding Common Purpose.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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Well My Black Cat, we have now both listened to the Radio 5 programme and it is clear you have been led up the garden path regarding The Great Big Conspiracy.

What you were telling me was nonsense. It is nothing to do with taking over the Universe, The Galaxy, The Solar System, The Moon or even The Earth.

The Conspiracy Theory seems to be about Europe taking over us, the UK losing sovereignty following which an elite bunch of unelected Common Purpose Graduates will control us all in some kind of Neo-Marxist state.

That’s what The Conspiracy Theory is about, My Black Cat!

Now, My Black Cat, you and others are asking a very difficult question:

What is the conspiracy?

And, of course, taking all the signs into account, it is possible to come up with credible answers to that question. Your answer may or may not be correct.

But that is the wrong question.

Instead, ask yourself this.

Why are there conspiracy theories about Common Purpose?

That is what you should be working on.

Interestingly, a Common Purpose Graduate is asking that very question.

And giving an answer perhaps.

COMMON PURPOSE – THE PERILS OF BEING CLOSED

EFFECTIVE CIVIL LEADERSHIP WON’T DEVELOP BEHIND A LOGIN

By the way, My Black Cat, did you see the picture on the BBC website telling us about the Radio 5 programme on Common Purpose.

I could swear the three leaders there are The Horizon Scanners……..

HORIZON SCANNING

I could swear the BBC is trying to tell us something……….

A hidden message perhaps…………….

About something going on below The Radar…….

About Futures perhaps………………..

Now, My Black Cat, this could be the beginning of a brand new conspiracy.

A better one perhaps.

Couldn’t it?

Listen, My Black Cat, I think Sam is getting worried about us.

We have been thinking far too much recently.

We’ll need to reassure her soon that we’re not losing the plot.

Yet…….

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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If your conspiracy theory about COMMON PURPOSE is correct, My Black Cat…….

Its not MY conspiracy theory………..

OK.

I’ll start again.

If THEIR conspiracy theory about COMMON PURPOSE is correct, My Black Cat, then it is unlikely anyone will speak out.

If they have managed to accumulate so many graduates over many years and yet no-one in the medical profession seems to have heard of them up till now, you can be sure of two things.

1. They have been avoiding recruiting the medical profession for some reason or another.
2. Most of the “Graduates” will be kept in the dark regarding the conspiracy. Only those at the very top of the pyramid will know what it is about. Perhaps the rest will be regarded as “useful idiots” – flattered by being selected in the first place but unknowingly aiding and abetting the “common purpose” if there is one.

That’s how REAL conspiracy theories work, My Black Cat. They are pyramids with many levels. Very few can be trusted with all the information. We witches know all about conspiracies.  We have watched many operate since the beginning of time. Most conspiracies fail sooner or later.

So, if there REALLY is a conspiracy, the BBC programme will likely just skim the surface and no-one will be any the wiser.

However, there are some things you have told me that are intriguing. Questions need to be asked. Here are just a few.  There are many more.

Why should a charity go out of  its way to recruit people to train as leaders?

What is meant by “leading beyond authority?”

Why are these leaders needed?

Who will they lead?

Who decides who will be suitable for training and what are the selection criteria?

Who will be deemed not to be suitable for training as “leaders?”

Did this charity really originate in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister?

If so, did he have anything to do with setting it up?

What is the connection with the Media Standards Trust?

Is there a connection with any other charities or leadership courses?

What are the links, if any,  with DEMOS, a political Think Tank?

Is it relevant that DEMOS seems to be following the lead of the USA’s NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL?

How much have the taxpayers spent on these publicly funded courses and what exactly are we getting in return?

These and many more questions need to be answered before the taxpayers can rest assured their money is not being abused.

There may be a very good reason for all of this.

Listen My Black Cat, instead of getting carried away on this crazy conspiracy theory, go and do something useful.

Find out what John Prescott is up to.

And then, try to find out if any members of the medical profession are Common Purpose graduates…………..

Then nip down to Waterstones and buy the Common Purpose book they are talking about.  If they don’t have it, try Amazon, Abe books or eBay or somewhere.

What’s it called?

“Leading Beyond Authority – Leadership in a Changing World” by Julia Middleton.

Yes, yes, I’ll give you the money!!

You won’t be out of pocket!

It’s sure to be a good read.

That will keep you busy for a while, My Black Cat.

And give me some peace.

I’ve got other things to do aplenty.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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What is it that is getting you so excited now, My Black Cat?

The BBC are taking the allegations very seriously that Common Purpose has an underlying agenda?

Are you sure?

But I thought you told me this morning over our tea and toast that the conspiracy theorists say the BBC is full of “Common Purpose Graduates? “ So, if that’s true they might find it difficult to be neutral and are just trying to help them debunk the conspiracy concept for once and for all.

Why are they called “Graduates,” My Black Cat?

Do they sit a very difficult exam or something?

Do they have to do an annual appraisal and revalidation and pay lots of hefty fees so everyone knows they are still competent leaders of tomorrow who are capable, unlike most other leaders of “Leading Beyond Authority.”

Is Leading Beyond Authority not just meddling, My Black Cat?

Are they not just “Meddling Graduates.”

There are always meddling people about who think they are helpful people and are doing good.

It has always been so.

They are the ones who say: “Why don’t you……” or “I’ve got a better idea….” or “Lets do it this way….” when what they really want to say is that: “Of the two of us, I have the superior brain and so it is reasonable that I control your thoughts and actions.”

If they don’t sit all these exams and things why are they not just “members” of a club?

They say that being a “member” of something may have to be revealed in certain contexts, but being a “graduate” bypasses these rules.

Eh?

What rubbish, My Black Cat.

Mark you, you could be right.

The Humankind have so many quaint notions.  If they have created a little nuance like this, it would not surprise me in the least.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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Today, the Witch Doctor had really intended to explore a leadership course that is going to take place in May of this year. It is called CLINICIANS AT THE HELM. It seems to involve an American company called THE ADVISORY BOARD COMPANY.

It might be an excellent course. Nevertheless, it looks as if it is an example of a sieve through which passes UK taxpayers money in the name of healthcare. Money deducted from the pay cheques of people in the UK that ends up in a company quoted on Wall Street.

However any thoughts on The Advisory Board Company will need to be followed up another day, because My Black Cat has come home in quite a tizzy.

She thinks she has caught a rat while studying leadership courses offered within the NHS.

You may not realise this, but one of the reasons we witches need our black cats so much is because The Book of Spells is not yet complete. The rats these cats sniff out fill in the knowledge gaps. The trouble is, on occasion our cats become over obsessed with their rat hunting and they deposit a red herring at our feet rather than a rat.

The Book of Spells will be much more reliable when the last chapter is eventually written.

Anyway, My Black Cat says she has stumbled upon a leadership company that is causing a bit of a stir.

The outfit in question is called “Common Purpose”

I asked her if they were acting as a sieve draining taxpayers’ money and shunting it to Wall Street.

She says they are a UK charity so it is unlikely Wall Street is benefiting in any way.

Nevertheless, she is very excited.

She says there all sorts of conspiracy theories circulating about them.

My poor Black Cat likes a bit of mystery in her boring life.

She says she thinks that they are about to take over the galaxy universe.

A little British charity taking over the universe?

She is a great one for the superlatives, My Black Cat.

She told me it must be true because Common Purpose are going to be challenged on Radio 5 on Sunday night.

“Jonathan Maitland
Sunday 8 March
7.00-8.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Sitting in for Donal MacIntyre, journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Maitland presents BBC Radio 5 Live’s hard-hitting investigative and original journalism programme.

This week’s investigation looks at Common Purpose, a registered charity that provides training for the next generation of leaders but which critics have accused of being a shadowy movement for careerists whose selection criteria is dependent upon a person’s political leanings.

Presenter/Jonathan Maitland, Producer/Innes Bowen

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity”

Challenged about what?

Taking over the universe?

What utter rubbish!

Stupid, stupid cat!

She’s caught a fish instead of a rat!

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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Who the devil is Sir Cyril Chantler, My Black Cat?

Have you heard of him?

We seem to have missed him out of The Freedom Saga of 2008 somehow……..

You’ve found his picture in The National Portrait Gallery, My Black Cat.

Eh?

He must be important then.

SIR CYRIL CHANTLER

It’s hardly a portrait!

What the devil is he up to?

All a bit depressing really.

But I suppose it’s better than displaying him in the post mortem room.

You’ve also found one of Dame Carol Black.

DAME CAROL MARY BLACK

She seems to be rearranging the furniture.

Wonder if they are hanging side by side.

Two key players from the 2008 Freedom Saga.

In the National Portrait Gallery.

Whatever next!

A Junior Doctor from the highlands maybe?

Or the first UK medical bloggers?

UPDATE:

You have found out something else about Sir Cyril Chantler, My Black Cat?

He seems to have something to do with George Orwell.

Art and now books………

Don’t be ridiculous. George Orwelll hasn’t been around since 1984.

He has a prize.

The Orwell Prize.

What the dickens is The Orwell Prize, My Black Cat?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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I cannot believe I would live to see what is happening in this country the world today!

Read the Jobbing Doctor, will you!

And the Telegraph!

They are telling you!

Does this witch need to be even more explicit?

This is “Futures getting out of hand” you stupid gaggle of Humankind.

Have you not been reading this blog!!!!!

Do you just not get it!

You have to see the whole picture.

Not just health care.

Everything. There are clues all about you.

Look at the bigger picture.

There is more to come.

Read about PAM. Every single link that’s there.

We witches believe patient confidentiality is going to be sacrificed in the Futures Game.

Just like the ownership of your childrens’ finger prints will be handed over to the state without your consent.

As part of The Great Data Mining Industry.

That we, the voters pay for.

BMA, GMC, Colleges, Deaneries waken up!

This is not negotiable.

Do NOT try to be reasonable.

Stop being the “nice” ladies and gentlemen that you have had to be while “doing” the committee circuit in order to climb to where you are today.

Just say :

“No”

“Never”

“Over my Dead Body”

And mean it.

And mull over the Hippocratic Oath you took years ago.

If you can remember it!

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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The Witch Doctor has always felt she could “read” John Reid well.

She has reason to think about him sometimes.

Yesterday she decided to have a look at John Reid’s Wiki background.

He has a long entry.

She noted particularly that he is now working for G4S (Group 4 Securicor.)

In fact she made a little plait in her hair just to remind herself about this.

And because she feels she can read John Reid well, she came to a conclusion on this matter.

She will not tell you what her conclusion was.

It came as a surprise today, therefore, to find that George Monbiot gave John Reid a mention in an article in yesterday’s Guardian.

These apparent coincidences are generally due to a successful Red Apple Spell.

Red Apple Spells are Synergy Spells where distant thoughts work in harmony.

They are very difficult to do, but The Witch Doctor is getting quite good at them.

“So has prison privatisation here influenced judicial policy? As we discovered during the recent lobbying scandal in the House of Lords, there’s no way of knowing. Unlike civilised nations, the UK has no register of lobbyists; we are not even entitled to know which lobbyists ministers have met(13). But there are some clues. The former home secretary, John Reid, previously in charge of prison provision, has become a consultant to the private prison operator G4S(14). The government is intending to commission a series of massive Titan jails under PFI. Most experts on prisons expect them to be disastrous, taking inmates further away from their families (which reduces the chances of rehabilitation) and creating vast warrens in which all the social diseases of imprisonment will fester. Only two groups want them built: ministers and the prison companies: they offer excellent opportunities to rack up profits. And the very nature of PFI, which commits the government to paying for services for 25 or 30 years whether or not they are still required creates a major incentive to ensure that prison numbers don’t fall. The beast must be fed.”

George Monbiot’s last words on the matter:

“This revolting trade in human lives creates a permanent incentive to lock people up; not because prison works; not because it makes us safer, but because it makes money. Privatisation appears to have locked this country into mass imprisonment.”

Hmmmm…..

The Witch Doctor, as always, feels she can read John Reid very well.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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The Humankind are witless.

Or is it the Humankind is witless, My Black Cat?

No matter. Witchspeakers have difficulty with the language of The Humankind.

In the USA they almost let PAM happen.

Do The Witless Humankind not realise that Futures can me manipulated so they are MADE to happen?

Now it appears that in the UK, The Witless Ones will allow their childrens’ fingerprints to be taken in schools without parental consent.

Fingerprints of innocent children on record for eternity.

Without permission?

This, My Black Cat, is a Futures Activity.

There are many Futures Activities going on round about The Witless Ones.

Sometimes it just seems like a harmless little game.

Not so.

Do The Witless Ones not see that?

Do they not care?

Do they not see why they need to know about Futures?

And keep a close eye on things?

So that Futures do not get out of hand?

And now, the government of this land of ours is so preoccupied in collecting data for their Gigantic Futures Data-mines, that they forgot all about Google Earth.

They are so busy meddling with the future that they have forgotten about the present!

If you are a terrorist, Google Earth will help you locate the country’s most secret places.

THE REGISTER – BRIT NUKE SUBS EXPOSED ON GOOGLE EARTH. GCHQ, MI6 AND SAS ALSO LAID BARE

“The UK’s military top brass are said to be “furious” that updated imagery on Google Earth has laid bare pretty well all of Blighty’s defence infrastructure, including Faslane nuclear sub base, the “nuclear crisis HQ” in Northwood, North London, the SAS barracks in Herefordshire, GCHQ in Cheltenham and MI6’s spook central in London.

One shaken military expert told the Sun that “the revealing snaps would make it easy for terrorists to launch accurate mortar or rocket attacks”.

He doomwatched: “A strike on our nuclear capability would cause untold devastation. Terrorists could have a field day, knowing exactly where to aim strikes to cause the maximum devastation.”

For pities sake, My Black Cat, witless is far too benevolent a word to describe The Human Kind!

Can you think of another?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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My Black Cat has discovered something really, really weird.

You might want to read this.

It’s all about PAM.

People really need to know about PAM.

It didn’t really happen.

But it might have done.

On the other hand, maybe it’s better if you don’t know about PAM.

It’s up to you.

Anyway, it’s all here.

FUTURE MAP

NEW YORK TIMES

CONGRESS

COMMON DREAMS

MORE FUTURE MAP

TERROR FUTURES

WIKI PAM

FUTURES THINKING

THE WISDOM OF THE CROWDS

Now, what do you suppose all that was about?

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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We spent Sunday reading and thinking about the security of the world.

We were exploring the intelligence websites of the UK and USA.

And we read the whole document: NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY.

Every bit of it.

Then me and My Black Cat started wittering away about Futures.

And Horizon Scanning.

And Tomorrow.

We are certain no-one had a clue what we were talking about.

We are not very sure ourselves.

Enter THE CLAPHAM OMNIBUS.

He says it all clearly.

He doesn’t get bogged down with Witchspeak.

He is clearly not a witch.

Nor a black cat.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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Well, well, well, My Black Cat, who would have thought  that a witch and her cat would spend a Sunday afternoon skulking around the intelligence websites of the UK and USA.

It’s all very interesting stuff.

We’re getting quite carried away.

They’ll catch us of course and we may never be seen again as a warning to other bloggers.

Anyway, what do you think of the National Security Strategy paper, My Black Cat?

I’m half way through it.

We think it’s a Futures document. Don’t we, My Black Cat?

Following the trends already set in the USA.

It is all about Horizon Scanning.

It’s only very, very indirectly about catching terrorists. That’s way far down the line. It’s much more subtle and more futuristic than that.

The new kind of intelligence.

The intelligence of “Tomorrow.”

Do you suppose My Black Cat, that MI5 or MI6 or MI whatever number could do with a witch and a black cat on their staff. Part time of course. We wouldn’t want all this national security stuff to interfere too much with our Spell Pantry work.

It will soon dawn on them what an asset we will be.

We’ll just wait for their call.

Then we’ll play hard to get.

P.S. Hey, My Black Cat THE CLAPHAM OMNIBUS has very elegantly put what we are trying to say in another way.

A much better way.

At times we do get bogged down a bit with witchspeak.

Don’t we, My Black Cat…….

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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A followup from our post last night :Ben Goldacre on spying.

Ben Goldacre has also posted yesterday’s Guardian article on his own website “Bad Science”. From here you can easily source the original documents that are not linked to the Guardian site.

DATA-MINING FOR TERRORISTS WOULD BE LOVELY IF IT WORKED

Will you link to these documents on our Aide Memoire, My Black Cat. We will need to read them at leisure. They may turn out to be very important. They may lead us to the evidence we are looking for to prove we have found the final piece of the jigsaw.

The Witch Doctor finds it extremely interesting that during the week that her search has taken her link by link to the USA intelligence website, that Ben Goldacre finds he is reading a paper regarding UK intelligence.

“The National Security Strategy:
Implications for the UK intelligence community”

Very odd, My Black Cat.

Very, very odd.

You think a guide is taking the hand of the medical profession and leading them through a maze to some very important places?

No. My Back Cat. I think it is a side effect of The Ancient Bottle Spell. That’s all.

I wonder what Dr Goldacre would make of that!!!

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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Goodness gracious, My Black Cat! We’re not the only ones, who have taken a wrong turning from the NHS and are walking along a path political.

Ben Goldacre is at it too!

He’s moved on from homeopathy to something much more sinister.

Spying!

SPYING ON 6 MILLION PEOPLE DOESN’T ADD UP

“This week Sir David Omand, the former Whitehall security and intelligence co-ordinator, described how the state should analyse data about individuals in order to find terrorist suspects: travel information, tax, phone records, emails, and so on. “Finding out other people’s secrets is going to involve breaking everyday moral rules,” he said, because we’ll need to screen everyone to find the small number of suspects.”

No it’s not a path political Dr Goldacre has stumbled upon. It’s more a path statistical.

And why does the term “data-mining” make me chuckle so much, My Back Cat?

When it describes something so serious and intrusive?

And is probably closely connected with “Futures” that we mentioned earlier.

The futures concept that seems to have started off in the USA NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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During our time in The Wilderness, My Black Cat and I are asking many questions while we try to find evidence to confirm that we may indeed have discovered the last piece of the jigsaw.

This blog started nearly two years ago because of the problems associated with MTAS. However, it became clear very quickly to The Witch Doctor that MTAS/MMC was only a tiny part of a much bigger picture that involved serious demographic change, an impending international bear market, and the ultimate transfer of international economic power from west to east.

And the potential transfer of military power too.

We were aware of the carry trade but didn’t understand it very well. We believed, however, as did most of the “ordinary folks” in this country, that banking institutions should not take high risks with the money which clients deposited with them. After all, it is the risk averse among the population who put their savings in banks and pension funds. Individuals are perfectly capable of gambling with their own money without the help of banks if they so desire.

We were also aware there was a credit bubble that was not sustainable.

It did not take an economist to be aware of these things.

Even a simple witch could work it out.

In fact, even The Black Cats worked it out.

My Black Cat and I were aware too that a diminishing population of young people contributing to the workforce in the west along with an aging population had the potential to bring healthcare in the UK to its knees. This would exacerbated by the predominance of women in medicine. We reckoned The Leitch Report, Agenda for Change, The Skills Escalator were all attempts to address the imbalance. We thought MMC, as conceived by senior members of the medical profession, would eventually be clutched by the government, transformed, and be incorporated into The Skills Escalator as others moved up a step to take over the majority of jobs now being done by doctors.

The Junior Doctors intervened and made a strong statement on St Patrick’s Day 2007 and the seniors picked up on it.

However, although we acknowledged some the thinking behind the skills escalator concept, and that there was a case for some of it – we felt the dumbing down would overshoot and become ridiculous.

We think this has now happened to a dangerous level.

But there were three issues we couldn’t get our heads round, My Black Cat and I.

1. Why was the government going all out to antagonise the medical profession when even taking excessive dumbing down into account, it is abundantly clear this country will very soon need many more doctors.

2. How could the admirable but expensive concept of ‘extending more care in the community” be affordable?

3. Why is every Tom Dick or Harry talking about leadership these days? After all leadership is not a new concept.

We think we have found the answer but so far, we have not found all the evidence.

We think the answer goes far beyond the medical profession. Indeed we think it goes beyond government.

At the moment we are looking at other institutions. Profit and not for profit. The Third Sector. Think Tanks, Gurus and more.

At the moment we are concentrating on the Think Tanks. They are sometimes charities. They sometimes have input from the business sector.

Who is it that is running this country?

Who is really making decisions about our major institutions eg healthcare, eductation, police?

Is it the government?

Or not.

We wonder, My Black Cat and I.

And now we have discovered that there is a whole knew concept called “Futures” out there.

We know there was something called “Futures” in the Stock Market. We had even heard about “longs” and “shorts” but didn’t understand any of this very well. Why should we?

Then we heard about 2020?

Have you ever heard about 2020?

Or 2050?

Or the Globalised Crystal Ball?

Or Over the Horizon Esitmates?

No?

Neither had we.

You should have.

It’s all to do with “Futures”

Futures are being talked about everywhere.

We can’t understand how we missed it.

The really interesting thing about Futures is that if you follow link after link, the concept seems to lead to the USA National Intelligence Council.

My Black Cat and I are wondering why……….

You can find out about what we are exploring on “The Witch Doctor’s Aide Memoire.”

It is where My Black Cat and I store our information.

It does not express our views. It is just what we are reading.

The information seems to be growing exponentially.

And taking us well away from health care.

But it will take us somewhere.

Eventually.

Of that we are sure.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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As the day comes to a close, David Cameron and his wife Samantha, will be facing a deep sadness that will change their lives forever following the death of their little boy, Ivan.

There can surely be no deeper grief than that felt by a parent when a son or daughter dies.

We would like to join the many people in the country who have offered their condolences, and hope that somehow, time will bring a degree of healing to all the family.

Our thoughts too, have been drawn to others who, today or in the past, have experienced the loss of a child.

A few weeks ago, The Witch Doctor said she would take her leave for a while in order to think about a few things that were troubling her about the NHS and for that matter the country world at large.

See repeat of the post below.

She never did, because so many other interesting things took over in the blogosphere at that time.

So, The Witch Doctor is still wondering if she has found the last bit of the jigsaw regarding what is going on within the NHS just now, and for that matter society at large. She thinks exploring the current fixation regarding leadership within the NHS might explain some of the questions she is asking herself.

So, The Witch Doctor and My Black Cat are going out into the wilderness for a while to muse over how the past became the present. However,  you will still feel our presence because from time to time we will post information on The NHS Leadership Partners on our other blog and also open a new section of links to relevant Leadership sites under the ANCIENT BOTTLE SPELL at the right hand side of this blog.

This is the type of information we will be exploring:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE NETWORK PROGRAMME

“The network programme will provide support to help chief executives meet the enormous challenges of driving forward complex health organisations, during a period of rapid system reform and changing demands. Chief executives who become members will be able to access a unique level of individualised professional support and a menu of development opportunities to meet the specific needs of their role, their career point, their learning style and their interests.

The network will draw on the full expertise of The King’s Fund, and offer a gateway to the insight and intelligence of a developing national and international network of chief executives in health services and beyond.”

Chief Executives within the NHS can book their place at a cost of £9750 although it seems they will have missed the first seminar which they say was to take place at the end of January.

We note the Chief Executives will be shown how to obtain the necessary skills to stimulate the market.

What market is that, My Black Cat?

……………………………..

POST FROM JANUARY 5 2009

Whenever I cast The Ancient Bottle Spell, I relate to you true stories of what I have seen or heard or done in the past. The details are scrambled so that my identity and those of others will not be revealed.

A FEW DAYS AT THE SEASIDE

Some years ago, I was invited summoned to attend a meeting in a grand hotel beside the sea. This appealed greatly, because that part of the country was, and still is, one of my favourite places. This did not seem to be a typical educational meeting in a typical educational place. No learned societies were involved. The speakers had no expertise in clinical matters and the programme made no mention of the diagnosis or management of medical conditions. However, some of the speakers had a very high profile within the NHS at that time. Others seemed very close to government.

The Young Witch Doctor came to the conclusion that this invitation, which seemed to have compulsory connotations, and was undoubtedly a costly exercise, was designed to sweeten up senior medical staff in order that they would accept and enable Thatcher’s NHS reforms. This turned out to be the case.

We were treated well, my colleagues and I. In fact we were treated so well, that The Young Witch Doctor felt she was being wooed. We were introduced to the early vocabulary of management. This was long before many of the now exhausted terms such as “cascading, “benchmarking” and “overarching” were even heard of. We would have been amused by these terms then.

We were taught many things. We were taught how we should manage our time. We were taught about the forming, storming, norming and performing of committees. We were taught about QALYS. We were introduced to a sophisticated new computer software called “Casemix.”

But what we were taught related to management, government policy and health economics, not to direct patient care.

What The Young Witch Doctor remembers most was one particular speaker. Lets call him The Most Important Speaker because his position was such that, a short time before, he had been called into the NHS at the most senior level to take forward the government plan. He was considered a “good catch” for the NHS. The beauty of face to face meetings that “Second Life” will never achieve, is the ability to see gestures, facial expressions and demeanor as well as to watch screen presentations and listen to the spoken words. The Witch Doctor read the secondary signs very carefully and concluded that The Most Important Speaker, was an intelligent, able businessman who did not suffer fools gladly and who may have made some ruthless decisions in the past. He did not, like some of the other speakers, seem to be pandering to us.

What he told us was interesting. It happened too long ago to quote the exact words that were used, but the message was loud and clear.

The NHS was far more complex than any other business or organisation in the land. The NHS did not have the managerial capability to execute the planned reforms. Even looking outside of the NHS, there were not even enough managers of sufficient caliber within the whole of the UK to oversee the proposed plans for the NHS. He said if the reforms were to have any chance of success, then senior medical staff would need to learn very quickly how to fill the management gap.

Not long after that, The Most Important Speaker resigned from his job. I don’t think he was pushed. He took up another difficult project unrelated to the NHS. He did this successfully.

I always felt that during his short time in the NHS, The Most Important Speaker used his considerable experience to make a quick and accurate assessment of the situation. As a consequence, he removed himself abruptly from the formidable and depressing scene.

…………………..

Over the past year or so, The Witch Doctor has had a feeling of deja-vu. The term “manager” is becoming obsolete and is being replaced by “leader.”

The Witch Doctor has been asking herself about the new elite breed of individuals that are being selected and are being given what are to be considered prestigious awards in order that they can be trained as future leaders.

What selection criteria are being used?

Is it really leaders that they are after?

Or is it followers?

Is there hidden panic in government circles about future healthcare?

Just as there is hidden panic about the economy?

Are the two linked?

Why is this government hell bent on trying to demean and humiliate doctors in the eyes of the public?

Is “Patient Choice” just a silly game?

Just a diversion?

Clients and customers may want “choice” in the same way that MP’s browse through their holiday brochures and surgeons may check out their eating places.

Real patients do not want choice because the patient journey is not a trivial holiday. It is a journey through worry, pain, and fear and the destination may be death. There is an obscenity about comparing “the patient journey” to selecting a holiday hotel. The patient wants the trust and security that a correct diagnosis will be made, the best possible care given and if necessary, a death as free from pain as possible. They want trust, care and security to be implicit within the health professions. They do not want to be responsible for doing the work of medical schools, the colleges and the GMC. They do not want to be responsible for monitoring that hospital cleaners are cleaning, the nurses are nursing, and the doctors are diagnosing. They are not employed as monitors. They are not voluntary monitors. They are patients with worries – sometimes unbearable worries. Worries that are very personal. Please do not increase their burden.

So, is there another reason for this very stupid Choice Agenda and an obsession with the equally stupid term “The Patient Experience?”

A reason not grasped by MP’s, civil servants or even cabinet ministers because they are not explicitly told about the reason?

The Witch Doctor wonders if she has identified the final piece of the jigsaw that would link the economic crash, demographic change, the Leitch Report, Agenda for Change, dumbing down, polyclinics and private health care.

And yes, what this blog was about at the very beginning – The Changeling MMC.

It would also explain the relentless promotion of the notion of a faulty medical profession to the public.

And the mushrooming of superficial and inane managment-speak.

It would also explain The Leadership Crescendo that we are now witnessing.

Has the time come to appoint “leaders” who are already proven followers?

Has The Witch Doctor indeed discovered the last piece of the jigsaw?

A jigsaw that she has been trying to piece together for two years now.

Or is the whole jigsaw a figment of her imagination?

These are questions rather than answers, because The Witch Doctor is not sure yet if she is on the right track. So, She is going to stop blogging for a while. Instead, she will do some reading and thinking. Where possible, without comment or opinion, she will place links to what she is reading on her other blog “THE WITCH DOCTOR’S CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT” This may be of interest so some readers.

If The Witch Doctor becomes truly convinced she is on the right track, she will tell you what she is thinking.

By that time, though, others may have already completed the jigsaw.

So be it. This is not a competition.

If others reach the same conclusion before The Witch Doctor, it will make it all the more credible.

a red apple ……………………

The Witch Doctor – Link to a random page

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LINK TO UK MISSING KIDS WEBSITE

LINK TO MISSING PERSONS WEBSITE

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