It is now known that Dido Harding is applying to run the NHS in England. On the basis of her track record of failure at Talk Talk and Outsourced Test and Trace, the second of which has the appearance of being secured on the basis of privilege, she now wishes to destroy the NHS. I say that wisely. Her husband has written about his desire to privatise the NHS and she has never hinted at her disagreement with his views.
We did learn more about her own views today.
We are all foreigners now. Foreigners in a country that no longer gives a damn about us or our values or what our country once stood for. pic.twitter.com/OaHFrEQXCo
— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) June 19, 2021
The article is from the Sunday Times. The suggestion she makes is, in my opinion, deeply racist. It is to end the dependence of the NHS on those she thinks to be ‘foreigners'. One in seven NHS staff identify themselves as not being British at present. But since many who now use the NHS think that all those British people who come from ethnic minorities who work for it are foreign, and all too often demand not to be seen by them, what this really amounts to is nothing short of a racist dog whistle to remove anyone not white or with what might appear to be a non-British name from the NHS.
Harding's platform for the leadership of the NHS is in that case not just racist, it will also put very large numbers of its staff at risk of very real discrimination in the course of their employment. That, of course, is illegal. And it is the inevitable consequence of what she is saying. The floodgates for litigation would open up, and wholly reasonably so.
Racism is bad enough in this country. It is very bad in the NHS. And what Harding would let loose would be the permission to be racist amongst those who will hardly need encouragement to be so. If she does not know that she is not fit for the job. If she does know that she is also not fit for the job of leading the NHS.
Could there be a worse person to be considered for this job? I am sure there must be. But it is hard to imagine anyone else stupid enough to make comments like these.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Agreed wholeheartedly.
‘But since many who now use the NHS think that all those British people who come from ethnic minorities who work for it are foreign, and all too often demand not to be seen by them, what this really amounts to is nothing short of a racist dog whistle to remove anyone not white or with what might appear to be a non-British name from the NHS.”
How ‘many’ is this? Where is the evidence to support this claim?
Read the medical press where this type of prejudice is noted, often
Talk to doctors
Stop being in denial of what is reported far too often
So your ‘many’ is based on anecdotal comments in the medical press?
How many doctors would you expect to comment on the 1000x number of interactions where people are not racist?
The truth is, of course, that whilst totally unacceptable, these racist interactions are a small proportion of all interactions and relate to a minute proportion of the population.
To suggest otherwise is entirely false. As it is when you claim that someone is ‘in denial’ simply for highlighting your misleading claims.
Read Dr Rachel Clarke today
Her suggestion is that the NHS is institutionally and specifically racist
You might like explaining why disproportionately so many NHS workers from ethnic minorities died from Covid
But since you’re clearly a purveyor of racist tropes I suggest you do it elsewhere – perhaps tell Dido
Not just Talk Talk, she also includes head of Thomas Cook and Woolworths on her illustrious CV.
It’s hard , no impossible, to come up with anyone, apart from Boris the Buffoon himself, to beat the bold
Dido’s record of the grossest of gross inefficiency.
This is really taking the piss to a whole new level.
Hi, everyone.
There’s also this astonishing piece of information.
Dido Harding controls the payroll of the Bank of England, which operates under the laws of the City of London, NOT the UK & is at the heart of global corruption – as well as being the prototype for the new global “Charter Cities” https://t.co/ZXCi5jJ9KY
I was not permitted to see that tweet….
If I may help? This is what it says :
“ Biography
Term of appointment: 1 August 2014 – 31 July 2022
Dido is a non-executive director on our Court of Directors and Chair of our Remuneration Committee. She is Chair of NHS Improvement, the body responsible for overseeing and supporting NHS providers and trusts in England. She sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer and is a member of the Economic Affairs Select Committee. She is a trustee of DotEveryone, a member of the UK National Holocaust Memorial Foundation Advisory Board and Senior Independent Director of MindGym PLC.
Dido was Chief Executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group plc from 2010 to May 2017. Before this, she was Sainsbury’s convenience director, having been appointed to Sainsbury’s operating board in March 2008. Dido joined Sainsbury’s from Tesco plc, where she held a variety of senior roles in both the UK and international businesses. Before this, she worked at Kingfisher plc and Thomas Cook Limited, where she gained considerable retail experience. She has also served on the boards of The British Land Company PLC and Cheltenham Racecourse. ”
Her BofE bio https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/people/dido-harding/biography
“Term of appointment: 1 August 2014 – 31 July 2022
Dido is a non-executive director on our Court of Directors and Chair of our Remuneration Committee. She is Chair of NHS Improvement, the body responsible for overseeing and supporting NHS providers and trusts in England. She sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer and is a member of the Economic Affairs Select Committee. She is a trustee of DotEveryone, a member of the UK National Holocaust Memorial Foundation Advisory Board and Senior Independent Director of MindGym PLC.
Dido was Chief Executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group plc from 2010 to May 2017. Before this, she was Sainsbury’s convenience director, having been appointed to Sainsbury’s operating board in March 2008. Dido joined Sainsbury’s from Tesco plc, where she held a variety of senior roles in both the UK and international businesses. Before this, she worked at Kingfisher plc and Thomas Cook Limited, where she gained considerable retail experience. She has also served on the boards of The British Land Company PLC and Cheltenham Racecourse. “
Remuneration committees deal specifically with boardroom pay, including that of advisers, don’t they? It’s a stretch to say Dido Harding controls the BoE’s payroll. This comment is specifically not about her suitability for any role, just a clarification.
Let’s looks at the previous Chief Executives of the NHS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Executive_of_NHS_England
Each a non-political appointment with years of relevant experience in healthcare management.
Dido Harding is not just a political appointee: she is herself a politician, who sits as a Conservative peer, and is married to a Conservative MP. She also has no relevant healthcare experience, just some rather patchy experience of management consultancy and then a series of short appointments in a series of retailers. It is always a little suspicious when someone can’t keep a job for more than a few years. Despite an almost unlimited budget, all of that so-called experience left her completely inadequate to the task of building an adequately functioning national test, track and trace system.
It is bad enough that important bits of the civil service are being politicised, but since when did we appoint inexperienced politicians to senior appointments in important public agencies?
Agreed
I’m a ‘purveyor of racist tropes’ am I – please quote anything I’ve said that supports thst claim.
All I have said is that “The truth is, of course, that WHILST TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,, these racist interactions are a small proportion of all interactions and relate to a minute proportion of the population”
You’ve provided zero evidence to support your claims and so have simply decided to go an unwarranted and unsubstantiated personal attack.
Can you provide the statistics of the death rate of ethnic minorities in the NHS versus all staff, obviously adjusted for job type?
Claims about the institution of the NHS being racist are entirely different than your claims about those who use the NHS. Neither does it support the ridiculous claim that the intention is to remove all non-white staff from the NHS.
This is the evidence:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7563090/
And:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2020/04/ethnic-minority-deaths-covid-19
And on racism
https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1083.full
Making claims that there is no racism without checking is to advance a casual racist trope
You have, in my opinion
No doubt you disagree
But you won’t be back here
I’ve have made no such claim that ‘there is no racism’. Indeed I have said quite the opposite, as anyone with a basic understanding of the English language will confirm by reading my posts.
Is this really the best you can do? Blatantly abuse and lie about those who would question your false claims and then threaten to ban them if they don’t follow the ignorant praise carried out by your sycophantic followers?
Hardly makes it a credible blog, does it!
You are trolling
It is easy to spot
Jaws cannot drop further. This a farce beyond the wildest of imaginings.
There are many reasons why I don’t want Dido Harding appointed to this role but on this point she is right.
It’s morally indefensible that, as a wealthy country, we choose to rob countries of the global south of people they have trained because we fail to train enough of our own.
That is a good argument
It is not the one she is making
And to make it we have to support those people to stay in their home countries and we don’t
That is a good point. Harding could have framed the argument as being about the need to train many more medical staff at all levels and make the NHS a more attractive and rewarding place to work. She did not – she made it about getting rid of foreigners. Pure dog whistle for the xenophobic and racist element that are today’s Conservatives core vote.
As to Andrew’s points – a good friend is a lead on tackling racism affecting the NHS. He would confirm the problem as per Richard’s evidence.