And more congratulations. I would have loved to have seen the faces of the maternity staff at Truro hospital when they were told the PMs wife was on her way - and then the exra pressure of an emergency c-section. Wow - they won't forget today. As for a name, hmmm, something Cornish like Tamsin...Tam Cam, fits in with corporeal's line of thinking!

a-tracy, I'm not sure what point you are trying to make, but tell someone with rheumatoid arthritis that their chair, desk and surroundings don't matter....

True - and the construction and mining industries are two where it's difficult to make changes but in many circumstances, changes can be made e.g. to an office desk or chair or reducing hours.

Taking that further a-tracy, there is a case for better relationships between the patient, GP and employer: the GP could bring some wisdom to bear on the employer and a solution could be found in the existing environment...

Jean was one of the first people I met in the Conservative Party and I was touched by her warmth and impressed with her generous committment to the Party. My condolences go to Mike and the family.

Sorry, that should be http://2020health.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/nice-try/

Have just blogged on this myself at www.2020health.wordpress.com While GPs should not start policing our lifestyles, we have to accept more responsibility than simply saying "I pay my taxes, treat me".

Abortion is here to stay - that's not what this post is about. It's asking you to think about the consequences / implications of it becoming a form of contraception and being reduced to a soundbite advert.

Edward, some people might have some insightful thoughts on the overall campaign, public confusion over policies, or want to comment on their how their expectations have / haven't been met. So, did this election campaign turn out exactly as you thought it would?

BarryT, sorry to hear that; it's unusual but adverse reactions can happen to any medicine - my daughter reacted massively age 8 to antibiotics. Norm, I agree and said the media fanned the flames. But he should be struck off for unethical practice and compounding the massive scare. He should be held accountable - many parents believed him and their children suffered as a result. David, what's your evidence?

Hi Jackie. I am sorry you are so disappointed, however I do know Gosport well as I grew up in Southsea, went to school in Fareham and spent a lot of time with friends in Gosport, Stubbington and Lee. My family background is across all 3 armed forces so I know how important the services are and have been to the area. I am passionate about representing Gosport and bringing in investment for its future well being. And of course we would live there as a family and all become local. Do get in touch if you would like to know more.

There is no one problem causing the 'cost' of the NHS. Inefficient service delivery, inept IT, vested interests, resistance to change, irresponsible lifestyles for instance all have their part to play. But I wonder if Andrew misinterpreted Tim's comment. When Tim talks about protecting front-line services does he really mean 'core services' that the NHS provides? This is a key point - medicalisation of any bodily change, addiction and diagnostic drift now mean that the NHS is expected to pay for conditions that at its inception would never have been considered a sickness or a potential cost. [There are of course demographic and technological reasons for increase demand too]. But varicose veins, body dysmorphia, IVF, erectile dysfunction, unwanted pregnancy, hyperactive children - the list has been ever expanding with little public debate about whether the conditions on which some of our money is spent should really be charged to the tax payer. So much more to say but dinner awaits...

Jack, Luke et al - Which bit of my attitude is uncaring? Uncaring about our wasted taxes? Uncaring about the injustice of payment depending on your condition? Uncaring about Labour's dependency creep? Uncaring about the current unsustainable health service? Uncaring about new medicines withheld on the basis of cost when £800m wasted? MG - if you let your beans go mouldy in the fridge that affects your budget; if Mrs Blogs has a cupboard full of meds going to waste it affects the NHS budget. It's stewardship and it matters.

David at Home and Victor - don't you know what happened when the red ship collided with the blue ship? They were marooned.

Tim - just watched it - I am really worried now that I might have nightmares tonight!

Massive scepticism aside about the £32m figure [where on earth did that nonsensical amount come from?] lets be clear about this. You want to get rid of one of the key sources of comfort and hope just when people are at their most vulnerable? You want to cut the potential for spiritual guidance at a time when people are going through times of uncertainty, suffering and pain? You want to remove one of the only people qualified and prepared to answer your questions of 'why' and 'what for'? You want to scrap the BMA, NICE, Palliative Care and other guidelines that emphasise the importance of spirituality as a factor contributing to well-being and coping mechanisms? Ridley you may not think that compassion should be at the heart of Conservatism, and Dr Crippen may have a sign up telling his patients not to expect any recognition of their spirituality from him, but I hope the majority of us here would respect the fact that Chaplins in the NHS often reach the places that other medicine can't reach.

I too will miss your posts Andrew - thought provoking, informative with sprinklings of controversiality! Congratulations on your new appointment - they couldn't have made a better choice!

I've been away from the pc today and I wondered how my Scottish joke would go down. I thought about putting "it's a joke" in parenthesis afterwards but then as I'm of Scottish descent and happy to be self-deprecating about my frugality I thought I would leave it. Really 'support the strivers' we have a tumour in our humour [one of Robbie's best lines] at best and at worst jeopardise free speech if we cannot make jokes about each other. But two other serious points - most of Mr Manning's school kids have NO experience of sitting at a table to eat - a significant related factor to poor nutrition and eating habits. And to everyone who thinks the State has no role at all in our lives consider the words of the great Burke: "Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without".

Reminds me, I heard last weekend that the New York Times is almost bankrupt - that would be a real loss! I wonder if we'll get some mergers over here... The Daily Times, The Financial Star...

Adam, Ben, Ed - for clarity - I am not against gay or single people adopting children and I think some of the comments on this page are truly homophobic and I would never want to be associated with them. The data I referred to was the original article which all along I have said is what is currently known. I can't know the unknowns! Are you implying no comment can be made unless every single fact is known - which as you will know, is impossible! I take your point on epistemic utility and will be more careful in the future. However having witnessed several bizarre adoption processes, I don't accept that the conditional probability applies here - although ideally it should do. Ben, I am intrigued as to what you think my hidden agenda is? My concern is with what is true and real and I'm not going to accept or dismiss arguments simply on the basis of who is making them. I am undecided about the morality of embryonic cell research - but the fact is that they have produced nothing in 18 years but dashed hopes and tumours. How is that not objective? Maybe if we had spent more on adult stem cells we [in the uk] would have been the ones to discover the induced pluripotent cells that the research community are now so wild about. And I write about this because emerging health technologies is my area of interest in the Think Tank that I run and I am appalled at the hype that is produced by many so many scientists and journalists when so many people are desperate for genuine hope. Now they really know how to manipulate statistics...

For what it's worth Graeme, if a gay aunt / uncle / cousin [where are they, gay or straight?] had been the one to step in and adopt then that would have been a far better outcome because of the familial continuity. You cannot eliminate risk but the children deserve a decision that reflects the lowest possible risk to securing a stable future - and that requires the intelligent use of available data and statistics alongside a sensitive appraisal of the individual circumstances.

woops

Northern Monkey, please be my guest and undertake a complete literature search on longevity of gay relationships. I'm not a sociologist, but I would have thought evidentially, an older study undertaken when there was more prejudice about gay relationships should reflect people who were stronger and more open about declaring their sexuality and more determined to make a relationship last. I stand by my point above, this should have made the media on other grounds, but the probability of further disruption to the children's lives due to the adoption arrangements is the point.

No Allan at 12.43, I expect we don't have all the facts which is why I began this piece with this caveat. However on the face of what we have, one of the sad aspects is that it probably wouldn't have made the front page if it hadn't have been for the adoption arrangements. That the grandparents had been rejected on the basis of age, that they couldn't afford to fight for the right to keep their grandchildren, that common chronic disease was being used against them - all by themselves indicate appalling injustice and the need to highlight this. Duncann, Ben at al - are you saying that no one can express the statistics on the longevity of gay relationships? And if they do, they are homophobic? And if you are saying this, tell me how we can have an intelligent conversation with all the facts without your charges of homophobia? This point was relevant to the case because of the high probablity of the adoptive couple's relationship breakdown and the subsequent further trauma that the children could suffer - but as I said above, other factors should have ensured this case came under public scrutiny anyway. Finally Ben, this is not the first time you have accused me of bias. My hands are up, I am biased and so are you, it is a fact of life! The real question though is what is the basis for our bias - is it based on a search for truth, passion for justice and exploration of the evidence? The inference so often is that bias is a result of prejudice - and for some people that is the case. However I would like to assure you that with a background in science, imho bias should be formed by experience, study and reflection and that is the foundation and motivation for what I write.

Like Sally I used to adopt a child through World Vision but then heard of their inefficiencies through more than one source. So I now support street kids in Uganda through www.retrak.org and girls in Zambia through www.hopehiv.org both of which are superb and superbly run organisations. Here at 2020health.org we are looking at how we can support public health development in Africa and small, focused charities are one of the best ways. So please send us your examples too!