Health policy/politics. “Invaluable, insightful, funny: excellent value for money. Subscribe!" - @NicholasTimmins “The worst journalist!” - @wesstreeting
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Joined July 2010
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Andy Cowper retweeted
@HPIAndyCowper i think you are in fact "The Marina Hyde of Health Policy"
Andy Cowper retweeted
Oh, another day of Matt Hancock getting prodded by m'learned friend....
@HPIAndyCowper
We have published the timetable for week #1 of hearings for our investigation into the Care Sector (Module 6).
🗓️Week #1 begins on Monday 30 to Thursday 3 July 2025 in #London, with 9 witnesses scheduled to give evidence.
Find out more 👇 covid19.public-inquiry.uk/mo…
ALT UK covid-19 hearing room
Andy Cowper retweeted
It's NHS Data Dump Day, Super Stats Day
You won't see it in the press releases or most media coverage...
...But figures on community services are published, as well as hospital stats, today covering up to Nov 24
Here's a summary analysis I'll try to repeat each month 🧵
Andy Cowper retweeted
Blogged: the question is not just: "what should the government do?" It is rather: "how can we create pressures that force governments into positive change?" stumblingandmumbling.typepad…
Andy Cowper retweeted
When trying to interpret medical news on Twitter, remember the expression “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't”. Advances in medicine are often incremental and it's rare to find an intervention that has a large effect on health outcomes or on health care costs.
Andy Cowper retweeted
By the middle of December, only 37% of those eligible for a flu jab - including the over-65s, under- 17s, NHS workers, carers, pregnant women and people with long-term health conditions such as asthma and diabetes - had been vaccinated.
Andy Cowper retweeted
Important post here on other types of workforce substitution occurring across the NHS.
Excellent work from @UKFCOT!
@parthaskar @iDrSunny @ExplosiveEnema2 @medi
1/13 First Contact Practitioners: a fallacy @NHSWTE workforce policy in primary care?
Can 1/2 master modules and 75 hours of supervised workplace practice prepare allied health professionals to ‘assess and manage patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed presentations’?
ALT Definition of a First Contract Practitioners taken from NHSE 2021 Roadmap to Practice. Contain 'minimum threshold for working as a first point of contact with undifferentiated undiagnosed conditions in Primary Care' (p12).
Andy Cowper retweeted
@NHS England is an ornamental meeting-cum-talking shop, and a recycling centre for the hard of delivery
healthpolicyinsight.com/cowp… via @HPIAndyCowper
This should probably mention that Countess Of Chester chair Sir Duncan Nichol also used to be chief executive of the NHS 1989-1994.
bbc.co.uk/news/live/cvg022nz…
After his time in charge, Sir Duncan Nichol created a thinktank ‘Healthcare 2000’, which predicted NHS user charges and service reductions.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/nh…
‘Healthcare 2000’ was perceived at the time to be not un-influential hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/…, but as we now know, its predictions didn’t happen.
Andy Cowper retweeted
League tables are a simplistic and ineffective way to pursue better public availability of important performance information.
Andy Cowper retweeted
Far more attention is merited on making detailed information on outcome and performance variability available. But the NHS has not invested in that (eg the neglect of the NHS Atlas of Variation)...
Andy Cowper retweeted
Studying variation in outcomes and performance is hugely important for driving the insights needed to improve. But, when the system wants to pretend performance is adequate, it is very uncomfortable.
