Editor's blog Wednesday 8 June 2011: A quick thought on the clinical Emperor - is the Field clear for Darzi?

Our Prime Minister and Secretary Of State For Health Reforms, That Nice Mr Cameron, has promised that we're going to have clinical senates.

Clinical senates mean that we need a clinical Emperor.

Now I know this will go against the grain in the Nicholson Health Service, but I'm going to stick my neck out and suggest that perhaps this is one job that Comrade Sir David Nicholson should not be given.

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Because quite apart from Nicholsonian Mission Creep, it's almost certainly a micturition extraction too far to give this job to a non-clinician.

So.

Who's free?

Had Ara Darzi been appointed as a health policy advisor by Tony Blair rather than Gordon Brown, he would be a shoo-in - given Cameron's fetish for Blair appointees. Nonetheless, this article by Lord Darzi of Denham in the Telegraph today is nicely emollient.

Darzi also got along brilliantly well with Comrade Sir David; their relationship was really strong. That will help, now Sir David has won the NHS.

But Darzi simply hated much of being in government, and in particular civil servants controlling his time. He also has various, fully publicly-declared financial interests which may present challenges. Could all this be a square-able circle?

Failing that, I wonder what Professor Steve Field will be doing?