To think the Secretary of State for Health should at least have SOME sort of health related qualification??

[AngeloMysterioso]

I’m just finding it slightly concerning that the man tasked with devising the strategy WRT the current healthcare crisis and any others that may arise whilst this government is in office, is in fact a PPE grad and former economist with, as far as I can find, less than fuck all prior experience or qualifications related to healthcare.

I know he’s a highly intelligent bloke with hugely knowledgable expert advisers but still...

YANBU

Don't be ridiculous, he's a politician and it's their job to ignore any expert advice they are given

He's not devising the strategy though....

What's Boris qualified for then?
Apart from f***g us all up?

I don't agree that the health secretary needs a qualification in health. I don't agree that Matt Hancock is a highly intelligent man.

Thankfully he does have expert advisors.

He's an expert at the practical application of the reproductive system.

I think having a permanent secretary with a health background is likely to be more beneficial. Ministers come and minister go.

YABU. It could be an advantage but, if a Health Secretary had to be a clinician of some sort, there would be so few to choose from. Would that apply to all departments? Would the Home Secretary have to be a police officer or lawyer, the Foreign Secretary a travel agent?

We just need somebody who is a capable politician and capable of learning from experts and civil servants

Totally agree, and to whoever asked, yes all government departments should be run by specialists in the field, be it health, education, the treasury etc etc. Regardless of the expert advisors if it's a non-specialist having the final say it's a pointless exercise. Similarly, if the 'top job' is being filled by a 'yes man's who simply enacts what the advisors say, what's the point. Just employ the advisors, get rid of the fancy title and employ a few extra nurses/teachers/farmers/whatever with the money saved on that one persons wages

A politician is the last person you’d want in charge of the department of health at a time like this. Trump is the extreme example of why not - he’s got his eye on the next election.

YANBU.

Also Matt Hancock doesn’t look or act as though he has even the intelligence of a single cell organism living at the bottom of a pond.

I thought that earlier when I saw the french health minister is a highly qualified doctor. I think most health workers agree that the nhs should not be politicised to the extent that it is, and that some strategies would work if they weren't just for the soundbites or actually had time to bed in before the politicians changed again

YABU. Ministers act on the advice of professionals. It's the Chief Medical Officer (Professor Chris Witty CB FRCP FFPH FMedSci) and the Chief Scientific Advisor (Sir Patrick Vallance FRS FMedSci FRCP) who are making the decisions. The former is an epidiologist. Both have far more experience and qualifications than any former GP who might be sitting on the backbenches waiting for a Cabinet job.

Matt Hancock is just the mouthpiece for those who are making the decision behind the scenes, he doesn't need to know what he's talking about he just needs to repeat what they tell him.

It's exactly as it was with Boris Johnson leading up to the Brexit referendum, he was just the mouthpiece for Dominic Cummings.

YANBU.
I've always thought it crazy that the people who are in charge of the nhs, education etc know absolutely fuck all about those things.

Yep, in the same way the chancellor should have accountancy qualifications (think this one might but haven’t checked), the Secretary of State for the FCO should have an international affairs msc (min) with experience, Defence Sec should have served, Education Sec should have teaching experience, Trade Sec should have worked in industry...list goes on... We have a journalist as prime minister🤷🏼‍♀️...FFS.

I just read yesterday that the are two reasons that Taiwan has such a great head start on dealing with the virus. First, they learnt their lesson with SARS. Second, their vice president is an epidemiologist.

You should worry he our mp (great at getting his picture in the paper but elsewise?)

Ridiculous - so should the Home Secretary have been a police officer or prison officer etc?

SFS

Let’s hope they speak to frontline medics about what life is really like at the moment.

Labour's shadow health minister John Ashworth doesn't have any medical background. Does your rule only apply to Tories?

I don’t agree actually. In some ways it is better to have someone neutral. If you have a medic you may well shift the power balance of the professions further. What about social care for example? The sorts of decisions that reach a health secretary are often the political or human-focused ones or financial ones. Should a health secretary listen to experts, get out and visit then absolutely yes but I don’t think they need a background in the service.

There have been plenty of ministers that have been nurses or medics. They are not necessarily remembered. One of the best health secretaries was Alan Johnson and he was a postman.

No.

We've had qualified Health Ministers and they've been crap: Brian Mawhinney. Liam Fox. And who could forget Gerrard Vaughan?

That’s not the job of a politician. The politician is the representative of the voters. It’s their job to be informed, and to challenge the experts from a lay persons perspective. It is the experts’ job to persuade our representatives that a particular approach is the best one and to present it in a form that can be understood and accepted by the electorate and the experts alike.

I don't think he necessarily needs a health background but he doesn't exactly fill me with confidence asking NOW for ventilators to be made?

We've sat on this for two months.