Advice for Gordon 6

Gordon, you might like some advice on how not to waste money. Below is an old post you might have missed. It was first published on 14th April 2007. It was entitled '£72m down the drain?' It might be an idea for you to think this one over. You know - reflective practice.



Do you remember the NHS University. No? Well it wasn't around long. And it didn't actually seem to do anything. But somehow it did spend £72,000,000.

Sir William Wells.

Sir William Wells wrote a report on it. The report has been rather hard to come by. The Department of Health declined to release the report under the Freedom of Information Act. An appeal was made to the Information Commissioner who ruled that the department should disclose the report. The Department of Health appealed against the decision to the Information Tribunal. There was going to be a hearing. Last week just before the hearing the appeal was withdrawn. Apparently it is still not possible for Joe Public to get the report from the Department of Health. The civil servant with the key to the filing cabinet is on leave. But you can get it here.

Why did the Department of Health apparently play dirty in not immediately agreeing to release this report? Could it be this sentence?

The Department of Health is exposed to significant embarrassment if the value for money delivered by the NHSU were to be probed?

The Department of Health has problems with its record keeping. But are some of them deliberate?

Well done Rod Ward whose perseverance managed to bring the Wells report into the public domain. Why don't journalists do this sort of thing? Idle lot journalists.