Politicians have to be seen to be 'doing things'. We know they won't do what needs to be done; according to the CQC, 17 hospitals don't have enough staff on the wards. We need to fund the front-line fully, protect it fiercely and make it fun to work there and I promise you... the problems go away.
This is all hugely significant and I am looking for your views on our new confidential Forum. We will come back to it next week.
Today is also important for another reason.
It's been my pleasure and privilege to keep you company over the last few years; to admire your successes, poke fun and shove a stick through the bars. We've seen huge achievements and times of plenty. Magic births and dreadful deaths. We have much to be ashamed of but plenty to be proud of.
We have fought and battled the lunacy of LaLa and his reforms. Almost everything we said has come true: CCGs are not ready, authorised with strings; GPs are not interested, 80% of accountable officers are managers; the front-line is short of staff, money is too tight to mention.
The NHS has indulged the political classes and travelled in an expensive circle to rename Primary Care Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups.
We have seen the commodious organisations, which we pay to represent us, dissemble, hesitate, and value their place in the tent higher than their place in our working lives.
And yes; services will have to be tendered for; no matter how much ministers and their fans bluster. Saddest of all; the Carbuncle that could have been a fresh start, is mired in the past, recreating history; new faces hypnotised by the old guard they have chosen to surround themselves with.
Today is important because it is the last opportunity I will have to write to you before Easter and April 1st; the day the NHS is Liberated, set free. Some would say cast-off.
To those of you who will be leaving the NHS, may I say 'thank you'. I know many of you will be leaving with a feeling of relief - good luck to you with whatever is next. Many of you will be leaving us with anger and disappointment. Whatever... you can change your email address (from the link right at the bottom of this page) and we'll still write to you.
Whatever your frame of mind, think about this; you have been part of the most envied health system in the world. It is not perfect but you have played your part in its pursuit of excellence and its place in history. There is so much for you to be proud of and so much for you to be satisfied with. Well done.
For those of us who are left there are some difficult days ahead. The biggest challenge is not CCGs, they are PCTs in drag. Money, or the lack of it, is important. Waiting lists will overheat and the politicians will be faced with tricky decisions. They will have to worry about that.
LaLite will try and hide behind the Mandate and pretend the NHS is run by Monitor, or the Carbuncle, or the CQC, or the bloke in the chip shop. The fact is the tax-payers and their MPs will still nail him to the Despatch Box and the Daily Mail will still hammer him on their front page.
The biggest challenge is a personal one for each and every one of us. We can throw in the towel, make up the numbers, keep our heads down and chug along... be the 'coasters' Lalite accused you of being! However, I suspect you will bring your pride and vocation to work - bust a gut all day, every day. Like usual. Thank you.
We also need to be prepared. Prepared with the Three Bs.
We need to Be Ready; ready for the financial pressures and the havoc they are likely to wreak after 2015 when NHS funding comes under even more pressure. Cost savings will demand a repeat of the �20bn savings that the NHS is struggling with now, plus what could turn out to be more than double that figure at the end of this financial cycle.
We need to Be Open; open to new ideas, innovation, flexible and doing things differently. Financial pressures will redefine how patients are treated, where they are treated and who treats them.
Finally, Be Kind; be kind to each other, support each other and redefine teamwork, collegiate and sharing. This next bit is not going to be easy.
Happy Easter.
