If the Conservative Party has undertaken a huge rebranding to become “the party of the NHS” then the chair of both its policy review and research department Oliver Letwin deserves as much credit as Andrew Lansley.

Policy wonks know the MP for West Dorset is important but they can’t always pinpoint his views on the NHS. He has strenuously denied making pro-privatisation remarks to the press, for example, yet within his party he is thought of as a left leaner. He has written about his desire to “liberate” hospitals and GPs from “Whitehall micromanagement” and make their success depend more on the ability to attract patients - backed up by more transparency on the quality of their care.

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HSJ50 2009 - Major Shifts of Power