Wednesday, 2 April 2014

New start for the NHS, and a community development award


 I was pleased to see this morning’s Times report that Simon Stevens, who started as new Chief Executive of NHS England yesterday, has already spoken out against the ‘misplaced consensus’ within our health service. He says it must be prepared for a wider range of innovative approaches to healthcare. 

That means a larger role for charities and social enterprises. He is quite right; the NHS must be more open-minded if it is to stop ‘the wheels coming off’, in his words.

It’s encouraging to see this strong message being set from day one of Simon’s tenure. He is clearly open to greater third sector involvement. It will be good to see what happens next.

On a happier note, I pleased to see that Dr Mohammed Ali OBE was awarded the Uthman Dan Fodio Award for Excellence in Community Development at the twelfth Muslim News Awards for Excellence on Monday night, in a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister. He is Founder and CEO of QED Foundation, a Yorkshire-based charity and social enterprise which tackles issues of health, education and employment in south Asian communities by providing a range of innovative services across the UK and overseas. It is a much-deserved award. Well done!



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