Partha Kar: Losing one’s faith in leaders

[Northerner]

It’s awkward—really awkward—to look back at something you’ve written and realise it hasn’t aged well. I’ve reached the point where I need to reassess an issue I wrote about for The BMJ in March 2020, where I argued that “we must keep faith in our experts.”1

Spending time on wards full of patients with covid-19 in recent weeks has made things hit home. I’ve worked with teams who are tired, gritting their teeth, and battling exhaustion, looking after so many when the spirit of the first wave has long passed.

Among all the suffering, some patients stand out. Walking into side rooms or closed bays, I’ve seen sheer fright in the eyes of those who teetered on the edge—those patients’ imploring looks as oxygen saturations were held just high enough with high flow oxygen, their eyes asking, “I will be OK, won’t I?”

Partha Kar: Losing one’s faith in leaders

It’s awkward—really awkward—to look back at something you’ve written and realise it hasn’t aged well. I’ve reached the point where I need to reassess an issue I wrote about for The BMJ in March 2020, where I argued that “we must keep faith in our experts.”1 Spending time on wards full of...

www.bmj.com

 

[trophywench]

And STILL I saw an MSN Headline from SKY News this morning exclaiming that I could read what the Gov are going to announce next Monday.

However - Boris told us all this very week, with his own gob on TV not to believe anything about the Roadmap until we heard it from his mouth. So I sighed and ignored the headline.

 

[Docb]

One of the problems is that few leaders are experts and few experts are leaders.

 

[mikeyB]

No, the problem is the government (that is, Boris) is wedded to business, and not medics. Or even common sense.

 

[Northerner]

No, the problem is the government (that is, Boris) is wedded to business, and not medics. Or even common sense.

And his cabinet were chosen because of their loyalty to Brexit and loyalty to him, not any intrinsic skiil. Hence we have Patel, Hancock, Raab, Williamson, Jenrick, Buckland, Eustace and all the rest all promoted beyond their capability, plus Gove who is a duplicitous snake. Oh, and we had Cummings running the show for much of last year No ability to learn from the past - two thirds of the 120,000 deaths have occurred since September