Transparency.

Sweeping up leaves yesterday and came across this.

Have loved leaf skeletons since I was a kid. It's all in the detail I guess. Have probably zoned in on this for most of my adult life and it does sometimes stop me seeing the wood for the trees, but it opens up a whole new world too.

Reading an NHS document that has been put out for public consultation this morning and I came across this:

"Radical public services innovation will only come from a markedly
different starting point. The key will be to redesign services to enable
more mutual self-help, so that people can create and sustain their own
solutions. The best way to do more with less is to enable people to do
more for themselves and not need an expensive professionalised
public service..."

All wrapped up in cuddly fluffy language and mutual self help is certainly a good thing. If my heating breaks down though, I want a pro to fix it. Similarly, if my cardiovasular system is wonky I don't want my next door neighbour guddling around with a kitchen knife!

My guess is the document is yet another attempt to claw back even more money. My guess is that we'll be doing more with less in one particular area too - and it ain't gonna be in medicine or surgery. My guess is the cutbacks, because that is what this is really about, are going to be targeted at one area of health care where hardly anyone ever complains. Not because they don't want or need better care, but because stigma is still all too real.

Maybe I'm perseverating on details again, but sometimes I think it's the only way to see through the politics.