I was interested to see (page 8, 14 September 2006) that the Appointments Commission was insisting that previous experience as a chair was not excluded from candidate assessment even though HSJ had seen letters from that same commission which confirmed that such experience was indeed not to be taken into account.

I was interested to see (page 8, 14 September 2006) that the Appointments Commission was insisting that previous experience as a chair was not excluded from candidate assessment even though HSJhad seen letters from that same commission which confirmed that such experience was indeed not to be taken into account.

When my own 'bad news' phone call came from the SHA, they said to me (verbatim quote): &Quot;Everybody knows that you have done a superb job in your present position, but we were not allowed to take that into account.&Quot; They then added, quite gratuitously but also quite revealingly: &Quot;We have decided to go for someone from outside the NHS.&Quot;

There does seem to be an awful lot of confusion and double speak about the land at present.

David Barlow

Chair

South Worcestershire PCT