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Charles Tallack

@charlestallack.bsky.social
3.1K followers 439 following 399 posts

Ex-director of analysis @HealthFdn,ex-Whitehall civil servant & NHS England. Love ideas, numbers, analysis, evidence, debate and challenge. Views my own.

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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This argument, against a council proposal to build housing on a city centre car park, made me smile.
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Amy Borrett @amyborrett.ft.com · 03/08/2026
NHS England will change how it evaluates the success of the controversial Palantir platform after staff raised concerns about the methods, more than a year after the claims were first published, according to emails obtained by @financialtimes.com via FOI as.ft.com/r/453430e1-c...
as.ft.com
NHS England to revise Palantir platform data after staff concerns
Changes to two most widely cited claims come as scrutiny grows over US tech company’s contract
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Yesterday, the Health Foundation published analysis finding no evidence that the Palantir/FDP tool OPTICA, has cut discharge delays, further undermining NHS England claims that it had. bsky.app/profile/dian...
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Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
If this had been policy in the 70s (as it partly was), towns would have produced lots of mining engineers & metallurgists just before pits & steelworks closed. As the yanks say, you should skate to where the puck's going, not to where it is. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Burnham to tell schools in England to adapt teaching to local business needs
PM wants curriculums for students aged 14 and above to be more responsive to local jobs market
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In his first speech as defence secretary, Wes Streeting reiterates his record at health in "achieving the biggest reduction in waiting in 17 years". Is that record still looking as good?
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David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Excellent piece on how inequality manifests itself in ways that aren’t measured by official statistics. Economics does itself a profound disservice when it neglects imbalances in power.
Which gets us to the crux. It's plausible that these inequalities of power have contributed to (pdf) economic stagnation. Bankers' power to extract implicit subsidies and to avoid tight regulation contributed to the financial crisis. Billionaires' control of the media tipped the balance towards Brexit, and prevents intelligent and meaningful analysis of policy not least by keeping some issues off the agenda and others on it. The mega-rich invest resources that could be spent on new technologies instead in efforts to preserve their wealth, for example by entrenching (pdf). hierarchies or by lobbying for favourable regulation and copyright laws that stifle competition. Weak trades unions and strong management power have encouraged increased exploitation rather than investments in labour-saving technologies. And big corporate hierarchies encourage office politicking; cultivating skills which management can easily assess rather than more useful ones; and incentivize short-termism (pdf) at the expense of healthy corporate cultures.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Predictably inconsistent Daily Mail editorial line (via Private Eye)
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Grok is a bit sh1t.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Rule 1 for analytical quality assurance: if your results are surprising, they're probably wrong. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Ramin Nasibov @nasibov.me · 12/03/2026
Another day, another stupid Excel chart.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
We know about the three planned NHS shifts. But there appears to be an unintended fourth one: mental health to physical health - seemingly caused by the second shift, analogue to digital.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
As also shown by the government's own figures... bsky.app/profile/char...
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Jo Bibby @jobibby.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
✨✨✨New blog What would it take for the government to fulfil its promise to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy across the country? TLDR: improving health care won’t be enough on its own, govt urgently needs to reduce deprivation. Full analysis here ⬇️⬇️ www.health.org.uk/features-and...
health.org.uk
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
A puzzling BBC headline yesterday, following publication of the ONS inflation estimates. Bread and cereals together account for only 1.8% of the CPI basket. Their price dropped by 2% between Dec and Jan, but the contribution to the fall in inflation is surely minimal?
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Georgia Banjo @georgiabanjo.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Great analysis. It was also clear from the beginning it wouldn't work. Guy's and St Thomas's was the model for all this, but after starting the programme the trust's wait times fell slower than the national average and the theatre staff went on strike...
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Dean Hochlaf @dhochlaf.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Excellent thread as the Health Foundation adds further evidence the government are not being entirely transparent with claims of reduced waiting lists Fixing the NHS requires an honest appraisal of the challenges so we can allocate resources appropriately. The gov really needs to do better
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Mary Dixon-Woods @marydixonwoods.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
This is really fascinating. Reads like a detective story, offers striking insights into the numbers on waiting lists.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
On 14 January Wes Streeting said that waiting lists had fallen three times faster in 20 areas of the country where crack teams had been deployed. We’ve looked at this claim and have questions. 🧵 www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Waiting lists cut 3 times faster in highest joblessness areas
Waiting lists in 20 areas in England fall 3 times faster than the national average thanks to experts deployed by government to help supercharge NHS care.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
What explains the divergence between consumer confidence of the over- and under-50s? @faisalislam.bsky.social for BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Stuart Hoddinott @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
DHSC published its impact statement for the 10 Year Health Plan this week (yes, that is 6 months after it published the plan) It's more measured and clear-eyed than the original document and quite a contrast to some of the effusive optimism in the plan Some of the things that caught my eye 👇
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
The government says its ban on junk food ads will reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000 and remove 7.2 billion calories from diets. These numbers show that the ban is a step in the right direction. But they also reveal that it's a very small step. www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Landmark junk food ad ban to protect kids' health
Children will be protected from exposure to junk food ads under new regulations, in a bid to tackle childhood obesity.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Long A&E waits are usually the result of a lack of free hospital beds. With 11% (13,000) beds, each day, occupied by patients who are "medically fit for discharge", reducing delayed discharges offers the opportunity to create more capacity without adding more beds.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
How does the UK’s health compare? Researchers at LSHTM recently answered this by comparing age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) across countries. This placed the UK 4th worst for females and 6th worst for males, out of 20. Surprisingly, UK does better than Netherlands (F) and Denmark (M).
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THIS Institute (The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute) @thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk · 05/12/2025
National programmes can help to drive improvements across health and care – how can they become more effective? This blog post from @charlestallack.bsky.social explores a new framework developed to support better early planning for large-scale change programme. Read more: ths.im/3XyEIge
A headshot of Charles Tallack
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Intersectionality describes how demographic disadvantages can interact to amplify inequalities. But how to model this? New from colleagues in our analysis team: a case study of GP appmts & patient experience, illustrating the MAIDHA intersectional modelling approach. medium.com/healthfdn-da...
medium.com
Intersectional modelling in health policy: a case study on remote GP appointments and patient…
Across nearly all aspects of health and health care, there are disparities between different demographic groups. These are often the result…
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John Appleby @jappleby123.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Those confidence intervals in full!
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
At the end of July, the government said that it had delivered 4.6 million extra appointments since it came to power, more than double its manifesto pledge of 2 million. www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited
Boost is part of Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS by shifting healthcare from hospitals into the community and ending the 8am scramble.
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Jo Bibby @jobibby.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
How can the government meet its commitment to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between regions? Reading this excellent summary of some of the @healthfoundation.bsky.social latest analysis from @charlestallack.bsky.social would be a good place to start! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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Hugh Alderwick @hughalderwick.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Policy exchange, backed by Sajid Javid, think we need to switch the NHS funding model to social insurance, and introduce new charges for NHS services, like to see a GP policyexchange.org.uk/publication/... These are not new ideas, but they are bad ideas A thread with some evidence
policyexchange.org.uk
The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment? - Policy Exchange
Download Publication Online Reader ‘The NHS – a Suitable Case for Treatment?’ makes the case that the NHS is not fit for purpose and is in urgent need of reform.The report finds that NHS performance r...
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
In its 10 Year Health Plan, the government recommitted to halving the gap in healthy life expectancy (HLE) between the poorest and richest regions. But how? Our new analysis with the ONS points to the underlying factors which any plan will need to take account of. 🧵
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Important re NHS 10 Year Plan: "making the plan happen with the resources on offer will be tough. Health spending will grow by 2.8% a year real between 25/26 & 28/29 – lower than historic average (3.7%) & much lower than Labour’s last period in government (6.8%)" www.health.org.uk/press-office...
health.org.uk
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
The Labour government’s most prominent commitment on health is to get waiting times back to 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament. Are they on track? We looked at this for last night’s Peston show youtu.be/yc-9Psk3gk8?... 🧵
youtu.be
PESTON LIVE - 02/07/2025
YouTube video by Peston
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
The BBC reports that the government is about to launch a drive to use genomics and AI to predict disease earlier and "revolutionise prevention". www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
NHS plans to DNA test all babies in England to assess disease risk
Scheme is part of the government's 10-year plan for the NHS in England aimed at easing pressure on services.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
No, BBC Chris Mason: the NHS does not make up 40% of day to day government spending. You've left out spending on pensions, benefits, debt interest etc. When you include those, the figure is less than half that. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Chris Mason: Reeves's spending priorities leave little wiggle room
The chancellor's focus on the NHS and defence will mean a spending squeeze elsewhere, writes the BBC's political editor.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
In January a record 11% of patients attending major A&Es waited more than 12h+. How much was poor NHS performance this winter due to "exceptional pressure" with "mammoth demand" from a quademic of winter illnesses? This and more in our new analysis:
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Good thread on a common and quite important statistical error, on many topics other than health (eg education). If a system is genuinely equitable, then variations in the system's effectiveness don't "explain" much. Doesn't mean systems don't matter!
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Found the whole interview irritatingingly insoucient given the state of the NHS. But I really got worried when she said this which is so obviously wrong.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Sarah Neville in the FT on lunch with Amanda Pritchard: "The NHS contributes between 10 and 20 per cent to people’s health, she says — a figure I find startlingly low" This widely quoted figure is startlingly low because it's probably wrong.🧵 www.ft.com/content/5cf4...
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Helen Crump @helencrump.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
This echoes a clear theme in my research: there can sometimes be an imperative to present a project as a success, which then makes it harder to learn from an inconclusive or unsuccessful finding. Inconclusive findings are just as important as successes, as is learning why something didn't go to plan
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Here's what the "record £26 billion extra NHS funding secured at the October Budget" looks like translated in annual real terms growth. 3.2% pa over two years. Higher than during 2010s, but lower than the 3.7% pa in the 40 years preceding the pandemic. www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...
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steve the skeptic @policyskeptic.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
What is really worrying here is that DHSC don't appear to know what strong evidence would look like and are promoting an approach that will frequently give them false positives about what works...
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
On 16 March, DHSC announced “crack teams” of top clinicians working in 20 trusts had reduced the waiting list by 130% more than in trusts elsewhere. As a result, the scheme (called FF20 – Further Faster 20), is being rolled out across the country. The claim examined🧵 www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Crack teams get patients off waiting lists at twice the speed
Sending top doctors into areas of highest economic inactivity is busting through the backlog.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Brilliant, on the British Steel crisis. Blast furnaces produce more carbon dioxide than iron. If Scunthorpe closes, Britain would be the first industrialised nation to end primary steelmaking. What is Jingye, the Chinese owner,up to? Should we have sold to them? France blocked a takeover.
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Reducing duplication between NHS E and DHSC has been a main plank of the rationale for NHSE's abolition and 50% cuts to the centre. But how much duplication is there?
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Stupidity/pseudo science dressed up as economics in the White House's technical explanation of the tariff calculations ustr.gov/issue-areas/...
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
£105bn a year on debt interest (4x social care spend) is a big part of why it feels like many of our public services are in permanent austerity. The 2008 financial crisis and pandemic response accounts for at least £60bn of that. on.ft.com/4c7agjB via @FT
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
"It seems strange to announce a reorganisation without including a strategy for how NHSE’s responsibilities will be reallocated (not a straightforward task) or for which decisions will be taken at different levels i.e. at local, regional, or national level."
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Hugh Alderwick @hughalderwick.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
On the end of NHS England in @bmj.com www.bmj.com/content/388/... Feels like a massive distraction
bmj.com
Labour government scraps NHS England
Performative politics that will disrupt the health service when patients most need it On 13 March, the UK prime minister announced that the Labour government will scrap NHS England—the national body ...
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Charles Tallack @charlestallack.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Great, insightful analysis of the abolishment of NHS England and the halving of the DHSC/NHSE centre @thekingsfund.bsky.social www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...
kingsfund.org.uk
The Reshaping Of NHS National Bodies Has Only Just Started. How Will It Finish? | The King's Fund
Following the announcement that NHS England is to be abolished, Siva Anandaciva considers the implications and why at the moment there are more questions than answers.
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CarolineJMolloy @carolinejmolloy.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Fascinating thread. Especially for cynics like me who already suspected that a fair chunk of the government’s “2 million extra NHS appointments” target was probably met with a load of extra phone calls, & other stuff that people weren’t waiting for & which may not have achieved anything…
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