Bill Harvey: In through the out door

In a turbulent week where we bask in the heat of both sunshine and World Cup fever, it will also have been noticed that the longest serving Secretary of State for Health has moved on to the Foreign Office.

It is difficult to gauge whether this is likely to have any influence on eye care provision. Indeed, Hunt’s history in the role seems to be best summed up as a series of contrasting highs and lows against a backdrop of ever-dwindling health funding.

Initial fears among many of us about the job going to someone who, at the time of his appointment, had professed a belief in homeopathy were soon balanced by a very calculated and objective handling of the Mid-Staff’s scandal from which some key lessons were learned about local health provision and autonomy.