Helen Buckingham
@hbuckingham.bsky.social
Expert by experience in healthcare management & policy, Chair National Voices, Trustee RVS, NED PHIN. Also cook, wine drinker, reader, gardener, walker, armchair art critic.
‘Again, the possibility that social care exists to support us to live well seems absent from the discussion, with social care cast as an end in itself, not a vehicle for a better life.’ Spot on.
neilmcrowther@neilmcrowther.bsky.social · yesterdayBut what is social care for? neilcrowther2.substack.com/p/but-what-i...
Is it too much to hope that today's speech presents social care as a positive thing in itself? Not just an adjunct to healthcare, not just for older people, but a service which can & should enable 1000s of people with physical disabilities, mental health issues, learning disabilities to thrive? 1/2
Dave West @ HSJ@davewwest.bsky.social · last wk.Aside from hospitals - preventative support and care in the community surely need to be a big part of 'neighbourhood health' and 'integrated health organisations'. At the moment the connection is rather sketchy . Ends
Well, yes... up to a point. When you live in a rural area and the bus service doesn't line up with your shift patterns, you're likely going to drive. And probably not be rich.
Dan Kaszeta FRHistS@dankaszeta.bsky.social · 2w agoBuses, famously for the richer classes and upper orders.
We know that research is better when it’s shaped by real experiences. That’s why we’re launching the Voice and Insight Panel, a new community for patients, carers, and members of the public interested in healthcare improvement research. Find out more: ths.im/4a4iZDt
Some serious points in the responses but I did giggle a lot...
Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · last mo.what's the worst geographic take you could have on England, given the day's discourse? I may trial a beautifully boneaded US import of "to understand England you must understand the great divide between the coastal places and flyover country"
An excellent evidence based thread by @monkemma.bsky.social below comparing the heatwave of 1976 (I only vaguely recall- think would be different if I’d been an adult then) with heatwaves since 2020 onwards. #1976HeatWave #2026HeatWave #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency
Emma Monk@monkemma.bsky.social · last mo.It was inevitable, wasn't it🙄 Of course the Telegraph would run with something like this👇 So let's remove some of the rose-tinted spectacles and also look at some of that data comparing 1976 with modern heat waves Because the 1976 nostalgia porn is wearing a bit thin at this stage 🧵1/23
This is very good. "Prevention is about crises that never happen. Integration spreads credit too thin to badge. People-centred services hinge on relationships that are not reducible to a tick-box. Progress, in other words, is slower, subtler and harder to measure."
Benjamin P Taylor@antlerboy.com · 2mo agoThe human handbrake: Why good ideas so often ‘hit the wall’ in Whitehall www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...
am going to try my policy reform. @samfr.bsky.social can tell me why its a bad idea. This is as someone who was v good at school and uni exams but failed their driving test multiple times - but then passed. Our exam system suffers from conflating the need to rank with the need to show achievement.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew post out: "The gap that never closes" I've spent much of my career trying to reduce the rich/poor gap in education. Nothing's worked. Which has led me to the conclusion that we're thinking about inequality the wrong way... (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
This is a great thread. And I totally agree misaligned boundaries are an obstacle to connecting up a whole range of public services. BUT as people we don't live our lives in neat boxes. We might live in one council area and work in another, we might choose a hospital in a third. So services also...
JP Spencer@jpspencer.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhere is Darlington? Now, I know where Darlington is. I used to work there. But if I asked you ‘where is Darlington’ in the sense of which local authority, administrative geography or region then you might struggle. And this map shows why. 🧵 1/10
The @bmj.com asked for my opinion on the single patient record as the NHS modernisation bill heads into its second reading. So here is my opinion www.bmj.com/content/393/... That the NHS needs better information continuity is undeniable, but the programme is also at risk of repeating past mistakes
bmj.com
Indicators are often treated as technical measures. In complex, place-based work, their value depends on how they support shared interpretation, learning and action. I’ve shared the guide here: learningforsustainability.net/effective-in...
Effective indicators for place-based initiatives
A practical guide to developing and using indicators in place-based, multi-actor settings, supporting shared understanding, reflection, and decision-making.
learningforsustainability.net
Just out of curiosity, is there precedent for a cabinet minister resigning on the same day major legislation led by his/her department is published?
Tim Durrant@timdurrant.bsky.social · 3mo agoHuge (but very readable) round-up of a big week for the government - what was in the King's speech, and what happens now (particularly given there's been at least one key departure!)?
Sir David Attenborough inspired generations of wildlife researchers and presenters, but who inspired him? Step forward diminutive, dismissed but indomitable Evelyn Cheesman, whose books about the natural world inspired the young David Attenborough. But not for her well-resourced expeditions.../1
Advice I will never ever, not in a million years, be following.
Join me at this year's Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival. I'll be speaking on Sunday May 3rd about women and the wild and the five inspiring women in my book Wildly Different. It's pay what you can, too. twlf.ssboxoffice.com/events/wildl...
Wildly Different | TWLF TicketingWildly Different | TWLF Ticketing
twlf.ssboxoffice.com
This makes me sad - not only lost public art but public art history - Antony Gormley's first civic commission. But councils of all colours are having to make hard choices. What makes me angry and sad is the secrecy - this is public money and I don't see a justification for hiding the sum received.
Mr RobertBob@mrrobertbob.bsky.social · 3mo agoReform’s failing Kent council quietly selling off the family silver. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/22/a...
Happy birthday to the Peak District National Park, designated #otd 13 April 1951. Originally 555 square miles of moor and valley, the 'great north roof of England.' It would never have happened but for one woman... 1/4
Just explained the whole near-side/far-side tidal locking physics of the moon on BBC TV with a 1980's disco-dance-around-your-handbag analogy 😂 - always face the bag (Earth) as you dance (orbit) around it. 💃 📹: NASA/Vi Nguyen
This is bloody good. And why we should value local government & local politicians. "It was Maureen who put roads policy & children’s policy together & made sure children with serious health conditions could be reached by ambulance when it snowed. And this is what politics can do: it connects."
Polly Mackenzie@pollymackenzie.bsky.social · 4mo agoMy beloved step mother Maureen has died. This is what she taught me about politics. open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...
Govt's decision to cut "back-office" staff is misguided. Sure, there is some duplication that could be trimmed But most services are already undermanaged after austerity-era cuts Govt needs those staff to make services more devolved, integrated and preventative. Cutting them is a false economy
Totally this. Too often we assume digital exclusion is about age. Well, the digital revolution was kicked off by people now 70+, grandma can probably manage an app if she can see the phone. We don't think nearly enough about digital exclusion caused by disability, affordability & language barriers.
Rachel Coldicutt@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 4mo agoSorry, but one more. A provisional driving license is £34. The gov.uk app requires an iPhone 8 or newer. 2nd hand iPhone 8s start at £68 and require regular data top ups. Also, govt controls the price of govt ID, but they don't control the price of phones. Digital isn't free at the point of use.
