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BBC News – NHS hospital loans under PFI in question
I’m pretty sick and tired of NHS trusts being used as political footballs, I have to say, but looks like we’re away again, with the Secretary of State talking tough over finances… GROAN!
Now, we’ve been wating for this for almost a month and it’s possibly time for United fans to rejoice…
Further to our previous statement of the 29th May, Leeds United can confirm they have granted an exclusivity period to enable a potential investor to carry out the appropriate due diligence.
It is anticipated this will be a fairly straightforward process.
A confidentiality clause prevents the club from making any further comment. However, our discussions with them have left us very comfortable that they have the financial resources to support the club and that they will have no issues in satisfying the requirements of the Football League’s Owners and Directors Test, unlike many of the previous approaches we have had to endure.
We will not be making any further announcements in the near future.
Day 24 – The frustrating task of self-motivation « courtesy of betweenfearandlove
Thought you might find this interesting…
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.“ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.” – Latin Proverb
I think one of the most important things I’ve learned as I have gotten older is the importance of understanding that we have to go through things alone. Now, I know I have talked about the importance of understanding that we have to have help if we are going to get to where we are going. And that still stands. But we have to do the work on our own. We are the sole decision makers in what we do each day. We are the ones who are affected by our actions, more so than anyone else. We are the ones who have picked the path we are on. And we are the ones with the ultimate responsibility of getting to where we want/need to go.
It can be frustrating at times when we can’t find anyone to help us in the way we would like to have help. We have ideas and projects that we believe in, but sometimes it feels as though no one else really cares. The people who we feel are supposed to help may not always do so. And that can be difficult when we are trying to accomplish something that we believe in. It’s the ultimate rule when it comes to accomplishing your dreams…. No one will believe in you as much as you do until you can show them why they should. And unfortunately, that usually takes a lot of work.
I find that with writing it takes even more work. You can’t force people to read something. You can’t force someone to pay attention. When you sing people can hear you even if they don’t want to. When you act people can see you, even if they don’t want to. When you paint your work is visible, what you have to say and share is visible, even if people don’t want it to be. But when you write, your ideas are hidden between under the covers. The book covers to be exact. You can’t force people to understand that what you have to say is worthwhile enough to give up a few hours of their lives to read it. That’s significant time. A song is three minutes, and can be turned off. A show is 30 minutes or an hour, and can be turned off. A piece of artwork is available to take in over the course of a few moments. But books, books require an investment. And you have to do work. You’re not just observing, you are actively engaging in reading. And as a writer, I think it’s very important not to waste anyone’s time.
So I made it a point to write something that I believe is worthwhile. And after writing it, it felt great. But now I have to get people to read it. Which is less great. Because even though I want to share it, and even though I believe in it, I have to convince other people that they should as well. And though that makes me uncomfortable, what I have found is that thing that I started learning when I started college – no one else is going to do it for me. I’m the one who has to do the work. The ultimate responsibility is mine.
We all have things we want to do. Things we need to do. And we all have to start somewhere. Is there somewhere you are planning to go or something you are wanting to do? Find the time, find a way, and make it a point to do it. And along the way:
- Understand that even though people may be supportive, they may not be supportive in the way we’d like.
- Understand that even though it’s going to get hard, it’s something worth doing.
- Remember the journey is yours to take, and some of the people will have to come and go.
- Remember there are plenty of people who have made it through, so there’s no reason that you can’t, too.
- Stay motivated. You have what it takes. YOU.
- Smile. This is just good sense. It has the natural ability to lift your spirit, even when things are hard.
This is getting to be a habit.
A couple of days I ago, I was closing off an Appreciative Leadership session and here I am again today, doing the same and being suitably impressed once more by the impact that AL has on people and the genuinely inspiring comments they give each and every time.
Constantly privileged, constantly delighted, constantly remembering exactly why I love my job so much…
I never, ever thought this would impact in the way it clearly has and is continuing to do.
Appreciative Leadership is a leadership programme like no other I’ve ever known… It’s not a course but a way of being and it’s really starting to have a major impact on Lancashire Care and the way we are and behave.
I’ve just come away from the close off of another AL session with a bunch of people from across the organisation and it never fails to astonish me how uplifting these things always are. I don’t know what the magic is, but there is definitely some there, and whether I like it or not I can’t resist.
I always talk about how privileged I feel to be in this space with these people and working in Lancashire Care and it was very much the same again today.
It’s great hearing people’s reactions and stories and how prepared they are to share their stories about the brilliant work they’re doing.
Very, very humbling…
Really great news to be recognised in this way…
Efficiency in Estates Management
Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust – Darlington Memorial Hospital
Ryhurst in Partnership with Lancashire Care Foundation Trust
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
South London Healthcare NHS Trust
Southern Health and Social Care Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Had a brilliant evening last night in the centre of Preston for the start of Euro 2012 with plenty of liquid refreshment and mega big burgers for the others (Mrs T had insisted on me having a sausage casserole at home before I went out).
It was a pretty astonishing evening of football, boding well for the next month with the Russians looking pretty damned fantastic as they thrashed the Czechs 4-1. There was plenty of cheering from the table next to us as the four goals went in (they’d drawn Russia in the sweepstake) and it was flowing, skilful, pacy stuff with some fantastic finishing – very impressive.
The game before between hosts Poland and Greece also captivated the imagination – when the Poles scored early on and there was a Greek defender sent off, the result seemed a foregone conclusion. That dismissal, by the way, was an absolute travesty – the Greek got two yellow cards for collisions neither of which (or my chums) seemed to be even a foul and the referee (rabbit in headlights) was left worrying that people would suss a bribe. Guess they should have given one to the Greeks, who pulled off a great comeback in the second half.
A Manchester United-supporting chappie spent the entire game slagging off Poland’s goalkeeper (the one from Arsenal whose name I always struggle to spell) and you should have seen his face light up when the bloke got sent off and conceded a penalty. The Greeks had already equalised thanks to a poor judgement from the keeper, but the substitute pulled off a great save to keep out the penalty (I’ll always remember the happy smiling face of the Greek coach at that moment!). Fantastic stuff all round and a breathtaking game.
The main memory from the night, however, was where it left England’s chances of winning – about nowhere. All four of the teams on show were playing with gay abandon on a pitch that seemed to have acres of open space and exhibited a style that I can’t see our boys living with. The pessimism is justified, might as well come home now…
Joy Division – Closer
Never has there been a more overhyped death cult than that which came to the fore upon the death of the joy division singer, Ian Curtis. JD were undoubtedly and extraordinary, unique band who spawned endless copyists, but the reverence which was applied to them in the year or so following the act was a phenomenon and nearly swamped New Order before they were even started.
Dig this – “the emotional impact of their music was shattering and irreversible, their records an icy collision of romance and alienation. between 1977 and 1980, they recorded the two most affecting and influential albums of their generation – and on may 18, 1980 the lifetime of both the band and their lead singer Ian Curtis was tragically cut short by suicide, an appalling end to one of Britain’s greatest groups.
“In the aftermath of punk, Joy Division invented a glacial new sound which dramatically connected with a country lurching towards an unforgiving era of Thatcherism. a band capable of touching the outer reaches of human emotion, they were driven by the wired and spinning music created by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris and the starkly personal, often depressive, lyrics of their troubled vocalist, Ian Curtis.
“Even today, their music and darkly powerful sentiments echo through the work of contemporary groups such as the Verve, Radiohead, Spiritualized and Primal Scream.”
James Oldham, NME
It was into this intense and histrionic atmosphere that the follow up to 1979’s debut album, unknown pleasures, was released, with the ominous cover artwork by Saville only adding to the mood.
The tone of the record was hushed and haunting compared to the raw power of unknown pleasures; many considered it to be their biggest achievement, a chart to the pathways of the dark side of emotion. I prefer the first album, but this is still a marvellous album, a powerful work which ranks up there alongside the finest rock albums.
Again there was an amazing array of material on the album – Heart And Soul, Twenty Four Hours, Passover, Decades, The Eternal, Atrocity Exhibition – it was almost too magnificent to bear.
At the time the album was difficult to listen to, we were too close to the occasion, but as the years have passed, we have become more objective and THIS ALBUM IS A KILLER.
It has been accused of being maudlin and overly sentimental, and the abundance of synths which mark out all the soundscapes creates a very pastoral atmosphere.
Tracklisting-
ATROCITY EXHIBITION
ISOLATION
PASSOVER
COLONY
A MEANS TO AN END
HEART AND SOUL
TWENTY FOUR HOURS
THE ETERNAL
DECADES
The silence when doors open wide
Where people could pay to see inside
For entertainment they watch
his body twist
Behind his eyes he says I still exist
This is the way, step inside
In arenas he kills for a prize
Wins a minute to add to his life
But the sickness is drowned
by cries for more
Pray to God make it quick – watch him fall
This is the way, step inside
Those lines from Atrocity Exhibition, the brooding, harrowing opener pretty much set the tone for the entire piece and you won’t find many laughs in the Joy Division world of 1980. It was odd really that the members of the band, apart from the troubled Curtis, emerged later as a humorous bunch who continually sent up themselves and the music industry.
But those days were for the future and in 1980 it was all doom and gloom and portents – but at the same time very, very seductive – the long macs became de rigeur in the late 70’s-early 80’s as troubled adolescents started aping the style of the leaders of misery rock.
I was as into JD as anyone else and was fascinated by their grim magic, but I found Closer an over stylised piece of work after the shocking rush that was the debut album.
It was great stuff, and easily one of the albums of that summer, but it smacked just a little too much of the band living out their gloomy, introspective image for my liking.
However, leave out the over critical carping and strip away the hype and you still get a wonderful piece of art rock, all splendid rhythmic pulse, shimmering synths, scritch scratch guitar and the booming lead bass lines of Peter Hook, and then there was that committed, intense vocal performance, with Curtis so far out THERE you could feel it – the music was gripping, but it was the presence and feel of Curtis which made JD stand out – New Order were a very different act when they emerged and for the other members it was like a breath of fresh air when they stepped away from the shades and torments of their former singer.
I won’t try and pick out particular tracks, because Closer needs to be appreciated as a whole, a piece of art, rather than a collection of songs, it is somehow much, much more than that.
RIP Ian, we will not forget.
It’s the start of Euro 2012 tomorrow and a few of us are going to be kicking proceedings off in style with a social gathering round food and collective viewing of the first game on the big screen. Look out, Preston…
Never known England going into a footy tournament with such low expectations, and inevitably and paradoxically that probably means we might even win the bloody thing… Perhaps if we do, and John Terry is banned from the final, he won’t strip off his tracksuit at the end to reveal his pristine kit so that he can gatecrash the celebrations… Here’s hoping!
The other thing to think about is this Panorama-driven frenzy about the racism that seems to be institutionalised at games over there. Not sure what to think, but hope it proves to be a damp squib.
In common with many other foundation trusts, the Board meetings of Lancashire Care have been held in private for quite some time. It’s not something that we entered into lightly and we did a lot of thinking about it. We have always been satisfied that on balance it was the preferable option as it always allowed us to have strong and meaningful challenge and scrutiny as a Board. We felt that if we held the meetings in public then there would always be a tendency/temptation to be a bit more reserved and cautious about our discussions which would limit the challenge and sanitise the business we conducted.
With the passing into law of the Health and Social Care Act this year, we will no longer have the choice and will be forced into meeting in public in the very near future.
This is going to be something of a culture shock and we’re going to have to really be careful we don’t fall into these traps, though there are likely to be some benefits.
In preparation for the great day when we go public again, our Board had a ‘practice run’ today to check out what it would be like and there were some really interesting dynamics with people thinking carefully about their questioning and challenges.
Anyway, the point of the post is to ask whether anyone has any thoughts or experiences to share and I’d be delighted to have some discussion on the matter with anybody.
PS I always quite enjoyed meetings when we used to hold them in public. There was always some trepidation, but there were plenty of upsides. Ain’t public service a wonderful calling? Looking forward to it already…
What's Dave Tomlinson up to now? 