Editor's blog 9th January 2009: The shock of the familiar, and a welcome guest

The policy points of the day are both sadly familiar ones. Firstly, the Conservatives have availed themselves of the open goal of mixed-sex wards (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7814460.stm).

On mixed sex wards, BBC News report that the Tories' FOI requests found that of 132 responding hospitals, 15% still used at least one open-plan, mixed-sex ward, and others had curtains dividing the sexes (despite DH advice that solid full-height partitions should be used).

When we dead aWakefield (obscure Ibsen pun)
Secondly, and even more depressingly, the BBC report that "Health Protection Agency data showed there were 1,217 cases of measles from January to November 2008, the highest figure for over a decade. And 75% of the 115 cases diagnosed in November were outside the traditional hotspot of London - in the north-west, West Midlands and south-east" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7819874.stm).

Should Andrew Wakefield be put up for some kind of anti-public health award? Never mind the appalling role of the national media.

Welcoming a guest
Meanwhile, welcome to a colleague - Julian Tyndale-Biscoe of InHealth Communications, who has written the first guest editorial on managing 'Brand NHS'. It can be found here: www.healthpolicyinsight.com/?q=node/241

Have a good weekend.