Recent posts on the Public Involvement Blog

Dear Mr Brown – Nurses taking the pledge won’t fix the Staffordshire problem    (March 10, 2010)

Has the Prime Minister’s “front line” commission report on nursing and midwifery delivered a damp squib?  I rather think so, if Recommendation 1 is anything to go by.  It states: “Nurses and midwives must renew their pledge to society and service users to tackle unacceptable variations in... [Continue reading]

No progress without parents    (March 8, 2010)

Booked your holiday yet? If you have children in school you may want to cancel your plans and set aside some quality time to be involved in a quick consultation this August.  This week the Conservative Party announced that if they get into power after the next election they will pass legislation which... [Continue reading]

Will John Lewis-style partnerships work in the public sector?    (March 3, 2010)

Andrew McMillan is the best placed person I know to comment on the John Lewis ethic from the inside because until recently as he mentions in his piece, he worked for them and has seen the reality from the inside. The question we asked him was ‘can this approach really be transferred to the public... [Continue reading]

March MAC Blog Round-up    (March 2, 2010)

The ways things are organised was the February theme of the month with MAC Partners writing about organisations which have failed and those which are held up to us as model enterprises. Can we associate a particular form of organisation or the way that it is governed with a higher probability of success?... [Continue reading]

Stronger and more accountable Foundation Trusts needed to avoid “Staffordshire 2”    (February 27, 2010)

At least 400 died needlessly “These patients were not simply numbers: they were husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents. They were people who entered Stafford Hospital and rightly expected to be well cared for and treated. Instead, many suffered horrific experiences that will... [Continue reading]

Dear President Obama, build US healthcare on what works already    (February 23, 2010)

No Place to Hide from Healthcare Debate In between dodging blizzards and snowdrifts flying around the US from coast to coast for three weeks earlier this month for work and to see friends and family, there were lots of opportunities to soak up what the media and individuals were saying about the debate ... [Continue reading]

The world according to John Lewis    (February 22, 2010)

Suddenly the John Lewis Partnership is the flavour of the month with both the main political parties pushing mutualism and the principles of the co-operative as the way to go when it comes to delivering better quality service and goods.Waitrose has come top two years running as the Which? subscribers... [Continue reading]

Closed but not forgotten – a postmortem on the Post Office closure consultation    (February 18, 2010)

It is not often that people take the time to look back at a consultation and ask themselves the question ‘how did we do?’ After all, why bother? Though the dog may bark the caravan  moves on. Policy gets made or not and the issue dealt with after a fashion or left alone for another day,... [Continue reading]