Shocking examples of poor care are the real reason Circle withdrew from running Hinchingbrooke Hospital - they've got their eyes on easier ways to privatise the NHS, anyway.

Hospital inspectors have written to the first 'franchised' NHS hospital warning them of serious concerns. And up the road, the NHS has won the largest single service tender yet - but only after having to waste a million pounds fighting off the private sector.

So-called 'John Lewis style mutuals' have been tried in the NHS - and flopped badly. So they want to give this Trojan horse for privatisation and asset-stripping new legs - and teeth.

Nick Seddon, former lobbyist and private healthcare advocate, today walks through the doors of `10 Downing Street to lead on health policy formation for David Cameron. What does this say about Cameron’s real attitude to the lobbying game he has publicly decried? And what kind of policies will Seddon be pushing now? There are good reasons to be concerned.

More than one in four Conservative peers - 62 out of the total of 216 - and many other members of the House of Lords have a direct financial interest in the radical re-shaping of the NHS that is perilously close to being enacted. These peers have been able to vote on the crucial divisions that will determine the immediate and long-term future of the NHS and the coalition’s Health and Social Care bill.