Hunt right to do the ‘wrong thing’

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, successfully convinced Prime Minister Theresa May to bring the health and social care services closer together as part of her “Cabinet reshuffle”. He will now be known as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Blake Morgan chairman, Bruce Potter, shares his thoughts on this latest development.

“There has been much criticism of the so called “night of the blunt knives” but one episode – Mr Hunt’s alleged refusal to move from health and to be given social care – seems to me to be an outbreak of sanity.

“First, health needs consistency not change like other parts of government .  Politicians efforts to distance themselves from the fate of the NHS have failed and arguably Hunt’s minimally invasive approach has been shrewder than many realise (with a few glaring exceptions).

“Second, Hunt’s demand to be given social care as well as health represents an aligning of responsibilities and challenges that has a surprising logic that has been absent from much recent health policy.  So well done Mr Hunt let’s see what you can do!”