Editorial Friday 15 February 2013: Indirect pressure grows on Comrade Sir David

Today's BBC Radio 4 World At One interview with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt sends three unambiguous messages, two of which were certainly intentional.

It piles on the pressure, following health select committee chair Stephen Dorrell's appearance yesterday morning on the Today programme, and subsequent letter to Mr Hunt to encourage him to press United Lincoln Hospitals Trust not to exercise their gagging clause with Gary Walker (ULHT's lawyers have already written to him).

The ball is rolling.

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The first message is that Jeremy Hunt is taking the patient safety agenda very clearly, and has got the message from the Francis Public Inquiry report that gagging whistleblowers is unacceptable.

The second message is that Hunt has severely limited faith in the oversight functions of the NHS and DH hitherto. This will lead him to have a bit of a think about who used to be in the leadership roles.

And the third message?

That Comrade Sir David Nicholson's position is unravelling by the day.