Change is all around

As from April 1 (why do they always choose that date? – even the tax year manages to avoid it by a few days) the world (well the English bit at least) has undergone significant change.

Let’s start with the Department of Health website, which now rather has the Gov before the DH in its URL – maybe that’s a message for the future. It also has a new mission statement - it “helps people to live better for longer”. Given the weather and the recent budget announcements, maybe it just seems like we are living longer. And after the recent Francis Report on Mid Staffs, someone has thought to add “compassion respect and dignity” onto the end of its very worthy intentions.

There’s no more chief dental officer page of course, he’s gone off to the...no sorry wrong again, it’s NHS England now, and as everyone knows, they’re based – where? We all thought it was Quarry Hill, the well-known mid-Soviet style edifice in Leeds. But it turns out that if you wish to contact them, either to make a complaint or a freedom of information request, you should address it to PO Box 16738 in Redditch, Worcestershire. So now you know.