The government has done 'far more than we ever dreamed of' to tackle inequalities in health, Sir Donald Acheson told HSJ this week. Sir Donald said he was 'amazed at how much work' the government had done in response to his Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health, published six months ago. He cited the recent Budget as evidence of its commitment. At the end of last year, Sir Donald warned he would speak out on 'what's happened and what hasn't happened' on the implementation of his recommendations. But this week he said: 'You won't be getting the sort of remarks I thought I might have to make. You get a bit cynical about giving advice to government. But this is going surprisingly well.'