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I love america and have many american friends in healthcare but we really need to get a grip here.

We had a seemingly endless stream of American gurus advising us on safety in the NHS after North Staffs and now we are turning to American institutions to improve our services. Before we take lessons from a country who constitutionally seem more concerned about the right of individuals to bare arms rather than supporting policies delivering universal access to health care, with millions falling out of the healthcare system, a country where maternity leave is a optional extra for employers and where the average care is rather poor, we should reflect on the fact we may be better at providing our own solutions rather than disempowering the NHS by assuming that unless we spend money on external consultancy and external ideas we will not improve.

I am proud of the NHS, not complacent, not arrogant, not unwilling to learn from others, but committed, as millions of us are. Have faith in our NHS and the courage to let us lead and improve it internally, with our own ideas, ingenuity and ethics, as we always have, whist being transparent to society and self critical enough to drive our ambition for betterment.