Blog
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Jul 23
2013The Logical Consequence of Commoditised Education
Back in the day, one Tony Blair set a target of 50% of school leavers in the UK entering higher education. We would, he promised, be at the cutting edge of the new global knowledge economy. Whilst this target may have been well intentioned, it was never quite achieved (it has reached the mid-high 40s). It did however trigger a transformation of the higher education sector in the UK.
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Jun 28
2013Can't Do
I put my bin out the other morning and when I got home it had gone. Disappeared. Vanished.
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Jun 13
2013Canals and Rivers Magazine
As a regular contributor to Canals and Rivers it is with some sadness that I learn that it has ceased to publish - a victim of the economic climate I suppose. Unfortunately, there were still two installments left of my Thames Path series 'Two of the Towpath', so as a service to readers I have added these to the library on this site.
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Apr 24
2013Two more walks added to iFootpath.com
These cover two adjacent sections of the Ridgeway:
Wendover to Princes Risborough (7 miles - including a section through the grounds of Chequers)
and
Princes Risborough to Chinnor (6 miles - including some great views of the Vale of Aylesbury) -
Apr 24
2013The NHS: A Question of Attitude?
‘Can you tell me what you’re here for?’
Not the most reassuring start to a medical appointment, especially as the reason I was there was because I’d been told to come in by one of the Practice Nurses. It made me stop and think. There’s been a lot of talk in the wake of the Stafford Hospital debacle about a lack of ‘Care and Compassion’ in the NHS. I’d like to suggest that many of the problems the NHS is currently wrestling with are driven more by an institutional attitude of defensiveness, of ‘the system’ operating as a self-serving organism and because of this a loss of focus on the patient.
