Will Burnham's appointment bring about culture change in health?
Healthcare Market News - Former Culture Minister Andy Burnham has taken the place of Alan Johnson as the country's new Health Minister following Gordon Brown's pre-EU election cabinet reshuffle.

Having moved Mr Johnson to the position of Home Secretary in a reshuffle which saw a number of senior MPs walk out on the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown's actions have been seen by some as desperate changes to a government severely damaged by a string of negative press anchored on the expenses crisis and ongoing economic turmoil.

In his first announcement after moving from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Mr Burnham launched a major get-fit scheme for the country which he said he hoped would see primary care trusts (PCTs) spending more money on facilities for swimming, cycling and gym attendance.

He claimed that the move would be an integral part of a shift toward disease prevention as the 'big focus' of a cash-limited NHS.

Making the announcement, Mr Burnham said: 'I will make it a personal priority to embed in the NHS culture the promotion of physical activity. I want to signal from day one a very big and large green light to every primary care trust in the country that it's not a risky or a frowned-upon thing to start putting money into physical activity promotion.'

In another loss for the health sector, Ben Bradshaw has moved from the Department of Health to take on Mr Burnham's old role. With a background in BBC journalism the move adds up, however, the loss of Mr Bradshaw to the independent sector could be tough as he has previously been instrumental in launching schemes such as 'match.com' and Supply2Health which set out to secure the relationship between state and independent providers in the sector.
Justin Merritt (08/06/2009)

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