Bill Harvey: Blue is the colour

As I listened to the Queen’s Speech last week, it suddenly dawned on me that the apparent oversight of the much-overpromised social care reform might be due to the government believing that the woman making the speech was representative of the elderly population in the UK.

While we continue to ride a populist wave of politics, where a catchy soundbite and an amusing appearance is enough to garner a vote, most of us in health care have had to develop a thick skin and a low expectation threshold. Promises to ‘focus on health’ or to ‘support the NHS’ seem less important once votes have been secured.