Sebastian Rees

Not as tight at the top of the table as we'd expect at this stage, but plenty of road left to run...

@HMAnderson39 I had an absolute banger tweet ready to go but it was deemed unacceptable

@SebRees1 stop it

Enjoying rewatching the Maize lecture!

@rcsloggett @UKHSA @DHSCgovuk @NHSEngland True, the average citizen has the OHID fingertips data bookmarked instead

@SebRees1 @UKHSA @DHSCgovuk @NHSEngland I would say you're not the typical citizen sir

I imagine the UK public has very little idea who the @UKHSA is. @DHSCgovuk and @NHSEngland you need to put the latest MenB info front and centre on your websites. Current landing pages below don't mention it at all.....

Agree that the bill is hugely flawed. Who called this parliament at its best though? 🤣

@jo3hill Labour in government must leave no Hack Un-thoned

@SebRees1 🦇 🔦

The Government don’t have good theories of how to change the State. But they aren’t the only ones - the same criticism of “siloed working” and idea of using “taskforces” to cut through the quagmire were all the rage under the last Conservative government. We need to ask whether these ideas actually hold up. Why do you have to work around the ‘usual processes’ to get anything done in Whitehall? Was the value of those processes at all. I think siloes are underrated. Whitehall became a bit too focused on how everything relates to everything else, and allows complex policy systems to overwhelm it. Instead, the kind of radical focus of action we called for in Everythingism must be the alternative. @martha_dacombe’s post is a good read on Labour’s struggle to grip Whitehall. dacombe.substack.com/p/three-layers…

@deeleyc6 @rcsloggett Some of this is inevitable pain associated with structural re-org - there's always a gamble in this and people are bound to be frustrated. But 3% of staff saying that change management is good feels a bit Soviet Central Committee, 1991...

@deeleyc6 @rcsloggett This data is for ICBs and regions too. Also DHSC data not looking a lot better...

😳 These are genuinely some of the worst staff survey results I’ve seen for any organisation…

Though this should not be the main reason to care, most people leaving NHSE/ICBs will return to NHS orgs at some point (especially those with the most valuable technical skills in functions like commissioning, workforce planning, digital and finance). Their good will is precious.

Abolition of NHSE and ICB cuts were always going to be difficult but looking after people needs to be the first consideration in these processes. That evidently hasn’t been the case.

@jo3hill Public affairs has rotten all of our brains...

@jo3hill Whitehouse 🤣

Everyone makes mistakes, that's why people proof. But the Mandelson files released last week are a good reminder of how large parts of Whitehall have become functionally illiterate. The civil service has lost any of the 'writing culture' it once had. When a document can have a dozen authors (all writing over each other), it doesn't reflect the thinking or judgment of any of them well. Writing well forces you to think well, but drafting by committee forces people to think in the lowest common denominator. Sometimes, Whitehall-ese is a deliberate attempt to avoid difficult subjects. Civil servants often use phrases like "finding a form of words" to describe the careful use of language to avoid being specific about something that ministers might be uncomfortable with. We need to do better, and bring back a culture of writing good prose in Westminster. telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/1…

Excellent one to add to the excuse rotation!

@HMAnderson39 @AliJaneMoore @sib313 @HMAnderson39 didn’t you show me a study on A&E attendance vs helmet use?

@AliJaneMoore @sib313 Does it make safety worse? Or discourage people from cycling if they are mandatory

A survey on behalf of a company which wants to sell “safety” products to cyclists. The evidence that high viz makes much difference is pretty mixed (I do wear it after dark). Half of cyclists don't wear helmets. Some want to avoid a bad hair day. thetimes.com/article/55053d…

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

@LucyGoBag @LucyGoBag what is worth reading on how organisations can get through the slump (particularly from a staff morale perspective)?

The Slump

@HMAnderson39 Young buck like you should be happy to wait

Undoubtedly positive news, but at this rate it will take *25 years* for the elective waiting list to be cleared Huge numbers of people waiting for care is now normalised and not going to go away anytime soon

@LucyGoBag @amandacomms The term ‘reputational risk’ brings me out in hives 🤐

Amanda Coleman has an excellent book on this @amandacomms

There is also something here about how “reputational risk” is viewed - particularly by people who consider themselves to be on a crusade like Starmer does. It is considered a lesser risk and one that they can game… but when I am training it’s the biggie…..