Report comment

Mr Britnell’s obituary as set out above says it all; it’s a bit of love hate thing going on with him, always has been. Some think he’s great most have an opinion. Britnell always knew when to get out and he knows now that the current DoH team is dead in the water, Nicholson included. He will not want a new government dumping the blame on him in the way he has done to so many people on his journey up the greasy pole of the NHS! He will want to distance himself from the mistakes in the vein hope that his ambition to make it to the top job will still be in his grasp by shifting the blame to others.
It is now becoming increasingly clear, the level of wasteful bureaucracy the current team have presided over and created under the banner of reform and innovation beggars’ belief. This has placed the NHS into the super league for regulation, management and system bureaucracy whilst patient outcomes languish behind Europe and Australia. The NHS is going to really struggle with the Economic downturn because they had taught it to spend money on frippery.
They have created a situation where stunning fees are paid to the consultancy firms as the norm and created a situation where the service is totally dependent on and frankly addicted to multimillion pound consulting contracts. If nothing else this addiction will make life in consultancy pretty lucrative for Mr Britnell.
The reality is however, he does not leave the DoH in a better state than he arrived. For all the publicity and pomp that the DoH portrays the NHS is in for a hell of a rocky ride over the next few years and it is not as Britnell and Nicholson portray in a good state to tackle this.
For Britnell this is a good bet, and he does make good bets, he can sit out the political white water over the next 18 months allowing the blood bath to drain away and then see what happens. Either way the DoH is going to spend lots on consultancies, keeping a sinking bureaucracy going, well into the next Government.
The thing is Britnell is no longer the man he used to be, and for those that have experienced Britnell’s ability to put himself first will recognise that this is exactly what this is about. He will of course be joining friends past and present, making that transition to the private sector all that much easier. We should all wish him the very best of health.