MEDIA WATCH

The revelation that 156 hospitals and primary care trusts have dragged the NHS into a£250m deficit last week justifiably received prominent coverage in the press.

According to The Daily Express, the lack of cash - which it said has led to bed closures and staff redundancies - is down to 'many NHS trusts frittering away far too much on non-essentials such as training courses for middle management and fancy artwork in hospital lobbies'.

Er, so It is not down to targets, expensive new doctors' contracts, or even perhaps the rise of people living longer with chronic conditions, as some other newspapers concluded? Nope, It is that financial management course - to which your trust could not afford to send a middle manager - that is to blame.

As for the fancy artworks, Media Watch has said it before, but money ringfenced from charitable donations for improving the hospital environment is not that much use when it comes to keeping beds open.

But you heard what the Express said: no more courses to find out how to achieve efficiencies through new ways of working - one of the ways NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp says will pull trusts out of the red.

No siree, 'patients and taxpayers deserve better'.

Also this week, a fascinating observation of how politicians' words are interpreted by different journalists who were not able to have their usual confab to agree a 'line'.

Prime minister Tony Blair had told the BBC on Friday that he 'wants to put the framework in place that really beds down the changes [in education and health]'.

Consequently, the Independent on Sunday's political editor reported that Mr Blair had 'vowed' to stay in office until 2008 to see through NHS reforms.

Or as his rival on The Daily Telegraph heard it, Mr Blair announced he was ready to hand over the baton to chancellor Gordon Brown to continue that very programme. Fancy that.