Simon Jones: All change at the top

At the time of going to press, Steve Barclay is once again secretary of state for health and social care. Once again? Yes, although it may have passed many by, Barclay held the same position for two months in the final throws of the Boris Johnson administration.

Outgoing health secretary, Therese Coffey, didn’t have much time in post to effect change on things likes GP waiting times and surgery backlogs. Fifty days, to be precise. Although given her admission that she gives friends antibiotics prescribed for herself, maybe it was a good thing she moved on.

Predicting what this health secretary merry-go-round means for NHS provision at optical practice level is rather difficult, not least because the post may be occupied by someone else at the drop of a hat. It’s the £35bn fiscal black hole that makes things even harder to predict, but it’s reasonable to assume that funding levels aren’t going to improve. Although, private cataract providers might do well in the next few years.