Media Watch: response to Darzi

Jo Stephenson

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If Lord Darzi reads his press he will be basking and bawling in equal measure.

His much-anticipated report was either "a wasted chance to save the NHS", (Daily Mail) or "the world's most ambitious attempt to raise the quality and effectiveness of an entire nation's healthcare", (Financial Times).

Early coverage honed in on ministers' pledge to end the so-called NHS postcode lottery.

The Times feared "an almost limitless drugs bill" while the Daily Mail worried it would be hard to do: "Trusts will continue to plead that they don't have the money to pay for every new expensive drug."

When the dust had settled on Tuesday, hacks focused on other aspects of the report including bonuses/fines for hospitals and patient choice.

"Pick your own surgeon" was The Independent's take, while the Daily Mirror topped its story with a Big Brother reference: "The NHS: You Decide."

Overall the verdict was decidedly mixed.

"Here for once is a modest, wise and practical new direction," wrote Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.

But The Times described the reforms as "timid" and The Independent concluded the report contained "some decent ideas" but "comes across as a charter for bureaucratic tinkering".

Media commentators were united over health secretary Alan Johnson's speech to Parliament: "as badly written as a computer user's manual", said the Mail's Quentin Letts; "Golly there was a lot of jargon," moaned Simon Hoggart in The Guardian.The Independent's Simon Carr feared Mr Johnson was drowning in "a sea of administrative drivel".