Dido Harding - should she be given greater responsibilities?

[Mumratheevergiving]

So the Government are busy blaming Public Health England and Ofqual for the recent disastrous handling of health and education (despite these being agencies they created, instructed and oversee!) They are now ditching PHE and have given the job of heading up the replacement agency ‘National Institute for Health Protection’ to Dido Harding the conservative peer who is currently heading up the utter shambles that is our track and trace system

So:
YABU Dido Harding is the right person for the job, we’re in safe hands with her at the helm

YANBU Dido Harding’s appointment is political cronyism and her track record is not good enough

It's fucking outrageous!

Her husband is also on the board that closed down the PHE.

So not just clueless but a clueless fucking amateur.

I mean it was bad enough having all these administrators running things like the environment agency and PHE rather than expert leaders, but now we have some chum of the Tories just having a go at it as a hobby?

The institute should be led by our leading public health expert, no-one else. A team of competent administrators can be appoint to support that person. Of course the Tories don't want knowledgeable experts running things because they do what is right, not what is politically expedient.

When asked if she is qualified for the role, Hancock told BBC News: 'Absolutely, she's simply the best person who could be doing this job now. He claims Number 10 is 'very lucky' to have her in the role. Mr Hancock rejected allegations of 'cronyism', telling Times Radio: 'I ask people to do these important, big jobs who I think are best qualified to do it.'
And he denied the decision to scrap the beleaguered PHE would be a distraction in the fight against the pandemic. He added the reorganisation was 'absolutely the best thing to do'.

What does Hancock actually believe 'world-beating', 'protective rings', and 'best' to be? Do they actually even believe this nonsense themselves? What a load of big hairy bollocks

Married to Tory MP who supports replacing NHS with insurance.

This is dreadful.

Hancock did say 'Ultimately it is ministers who are responsible for all decisions that governments make. That's why I come on the radio to talk to you and answer questions, and am accountable in Parliament. The whole media discussion around this about 'who is responsible?' I think is frustrating because frankly I am responsible for what happens in the health and social care areas. Of course I am.'

So Matt Hancock owning up to responsibility for:
the highest excess death rate in Europe, www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53592881

sending people untested AND with Covid19 into care homes
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/03/government-faces-prospect-judicial-review-policy-move-covid/

all the fiascos in PPE (double counting of gloves, lack of stock, dubious procurement from confectionary firms)
www.politicshome.com/news/article/call-for-ppe-procurement-inquiry-after-government-accused-of-wasting-150m-on-50-million-masks-deemed-unsafe-by-nhs

www.businessinsider.com/uk-government-sued-pest-control-company-ppe-contract-2020-6?r=US&IR=T

metro.co.uk/2020/04/28/surgical-gloves-counted-two-individual-items-ppe-package-frontline-staff-12621746/

Test and trace litany of errors

With that track record the only thing Hancock should be tasked with is writing his own resignation letter!

It’s corruption, plain and simple. All horse racing croneys and arranging for friends companies to profit. Mainly it’s about Brexit.
It’s also about centralising control and imposing new legislation.

Married to Tory MP who supports replacing NHS with insurance.

He says not.
June;

"John Penrose [Dido Harding's husband] said he was ‘delighted’ to join the advisory board of 1828."

"Mr Penrose said: “I have written a couple of pieces for 1828 and I was asked to join their advisory board in April, but I am yet to attend a meeting."

“Like any good independent think-tank they publish a range of political ideas."

“I don’t necessarily agree with all of them particularly if they contradict the NHS manifesto pledges on which I was elected just six months ago.”

"One article written by 1828’s co-founders argued Britain should be ‘bold and progressive’ and scrap the NHS in favour of a system where people pay for insurance either through private firms or a government scheme."

"The group has also published articles calling for the abolition of Public Health England."

www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/weston-s-mp-john-penrose-joins-student-think-tank-1828-1-6697936

Surely it must be against some sort of rule for her to just be appointed without any sort of recruitment process?

I see that she has been appointed as the interim executive chair and oversee the “global search” for the unit’s new chief executive.

And quotes one wag saying her appointment makes as much sense as appointing Chris Witty to run Vodafone

Did she upset someone?

"Since she joined watchdog NHS Improvement as chair in October 2017, Dido Harding has been struck by the ways in which the health service falls short in the treatment of its staff. “I am quite shocked at the lack of some of the basics of people management that I would expect to see,”

www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2657

Surely it must be against some sort of rule for her to just be appointed without any sort of recruitment process?

Not me - should be in bold.

oops -
"and will oversee the “global search” for the unit’s new chief executive."

Any Tory supporters want to give their side? Even up the debate?

Any Tory supporters want to give their side? Even up the debate?

I have - she has only been appointed as the "interim chair" (she will oversee the “global search” for the unit’s new chief executive), she was previously the chair of NHS Improvement, and the rumour that her husband wants to replace the NHS with insurance doesn't appear to be true.

@Clavinova

Any Tory supporters want to give their side? Even up the debate?

I have - she has only been appointed as the "interim chair" (she will oversee the “global search” for the unit’s new chief executive), she was previously the chair of NHS Improvement, and the rumour that her husband wants to replace the NHS with insurance doesn't appear to be true.

Penrose sits on the advisory board of think tank "1828", which "calls for the NHS to be replaced by an insurance system and for Public Health England to be scrapped."[6]

Is this not true, then?

I think her 'job title' etc is deliberately vague to avoid the need for proper processes to be gone through. If she's not ultimately in charge of it why don't they name who is and avoid all the fuss over it? I don't know whether it was on here or elsewhere that I read she's not really being paid for it and will receive expenses and is volunteering or some such shit. This is totally corrupt and an obvious way of avoiding scrutiny. If such an organisation is being set up, it should be led a properly paid professional who is the best person for the job, not some rich person with the right connections who's proved themselves to be utterly shit at what they do more than once.

The Tories are laughing at us daily.

I preferred her when she stuck to singing with Eminem

Letseatgrandma
Is this not true, then?

PP's post;
"Married to Tory MP who supports replacing NHS with insurance." does not appear to be true;

"Mr Penrose said: “I have written a couple of pieces for 1828 and I was asked to join their advisory board in April, but I am yet to attend a meeting."

“Like any good independent think-tank they publish a range of political ideas."

“I don’t necessarily agree with all of them particularly if they contradict the NHS manifesto pledges on which I was elected just six months ago.”

calls...for Public Health England to be scrapped

Public Health England is being scrapped.

The article below was written by one of the government's fiercest critics during the pandemic, Dr John Ashton - he is obviously not impressed with PHE either;

^"The Centralising Failure of Public Health England Dr John Ashton
29 April 2020."^

"Public Health England has played a central role in the COVID-19 pandemic but its determination to centralise at all costs has cost us dear. Delays in raising the threat level, testing and guidance over personal protective equipment (PPE) have had serious implications for all of us. Britain has always been at the forefront on public heath innovation and best practice–how have we let this relatively new organisation put us on the back foot?" ...

"The failure to advise both the Government and the public in an independent, open and transparent way has led to thousands of unnecessary deaths and distress and no doubt to long-term morbidity as well as dire economic consequences." ...

"On top of this, Public Health England still remains reluctant to set local Directors of Public Health free to provide the sort of trusted local leadership that is essential if further harm is to be minimised."
...

"After three months of over-promising and under-delivering, with deaths mounting, it is time for Public Health England to take on board Albert Einstein’s thoughts on insanity–“doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

bylinetimes.com/2020/04/29/the-coronavirus-crisis-the-centralising-failure-of-public-health-england/

"Professor John Ashton was chair of the UK Public Health Association and was north west regional director of public health between 1993 and 2006. He made a number of high profile media appearances earlier in the year, including interviews on Newsnight, Panorama, and as a panelist on Question Time. Ashton was highly critical of the Conservative government’s mishandling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis."

Dr Ashton was a Labour Party member for over 50 years - until last year.

It does appear to be amateur hour in our public life atm.

The government's friends couldn't even organise ordering masks that met standards.

I think her 'job title' etc is deliberately vague to avoid the need for proper processes to be gone through.

It's not a 'vague job title' - it's a common job title, e.g.

"The Treasury Committee has named Labour MP Catherine McKinnell as its interim chair." ...

"Sandra Wallace and Steven Cooper were appointed as interim chairs of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) on a jobshare basis from today (10 July 2020).The appointment will ensure accountability and strong leadership are maintained until the conclusion of an open recruitment process to appoint a substantive chair following the resignation of Martina Millburn on 29 April 2020."

The government's friends couldn't even organise ordering masks that met standards.

The European Commission?

"The European Commission said on Thursday it has suspended the delivery of 10 million Chinese masks to member states and the United Kingdom after two countries complained about the poor quality of the batches they received" ...

"The whole stock of masks was purchased from a Chinese provider via an EU fund."

www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/europe-halts-delivery-10-million-poor-quality-chinese-masks-200514132353534.html

[quote Clavinova]The government's friends couldn't even organise ordering masks that met standards.

The European Commission?

"The European Commission said on Thursday it has suspended the delivery of 10 million Chinese masks to member states and the United Kingdom after two countries complained about the poor quality of the batches they received" ...

"The whole stock of masks was purchased from a Chinese provider via an EU fund."

www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/europe-halts-delivery-10-million-poor-quality-chinese-masks-200514132353534.html[/quote]
Clavinova -
How about Ayanda Capital

It has emerged that the person who originally approached the government about the deal was a government trade adviser who also advises the board of Ayanda. But the adviser told the BBC his position played no part in the awarding of the contract.

Ayanda were awarded £252m contract by the UK Government
50million of the face masks they supplied will not be used in the NHS due to safety concerns:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53672841

Or perhaps these suppliers that were issued contracts for PPE by OUR Gov:
goodlawproject.org/news/the-ppe-fiasco/

But on the matter of Dido Harding's appointment this poll would suggest that it is not a popular selection.

I am generally against all these quangos that seeemed to start in the 1980s and have then multiplied.
Each Gov (both Conservative and Labour) seem to stuff them with their cronies.
Periodically, attempts are made to reduce them, or merge them, thus reducing the overall cost.
Sometimes the budget for the quango is stupendously large, and salary of the head also large.
So, I am not against ditching some of these quangos, as long as the replacement is not as bad.
As regards Ofqual, although I really despise Gavin Williamson, I am sure he did not come up with the notorious algorithm. It could be argued he failed to ask the right questions.
It was the really stupid decision to scrap the exams, a decision taken much too quickly in my opinion.

@milveycrohn

I am generally against all these quangos that seeemed to start in the 1980s and have then multiplied. Each Gov (both Conservative and Labour) seem to stuff them with their cronies. Periodically, attempts are made to reduce them, or merge them, thus reducing the overall cost. Sometimes the budget for the quango is stupendously large, and salary of the head also large. So, I am not against ditching some of these quangos, as long as the replacement is not as bad. As regards Ofqual, although I really despise Gavin Williamson, I am sure he did not come up with the notorious algorithm. It could be argued he failed to ask the right questions. It was the really stupid decision to scrap the exams, a decision taken much too quickly in my opinion.

More out today that ofqual we're the ones to propose the U-turn.

I hope we get to see emails at some point because given the education select committee we're discussing the concerns in July, it seems unlikely the minister wasn't aware until after results day.

@Midlifelightsd Honestly, I do wonder at what point people will say enough is enough & take to the streets- seriously- this country is a festering pit of corruption & greed A tinpot dictator in a third world dictatorship would be preferable to this lot. When do you think the people will actually rise up? I'm nearly 70, never protested but I think this will be my first. We can't keep on like this.