For some people, bumping into Peter Andre, Marlon from JLS or Katie Perry (apparently) represents a celebrity spot. I had my own version of such a spot today, albeit in a government-y, policy wonk type of way.
Whilst sitting on the Bakerloo Line home, who did I see sitting opposite me but the highly-esteemed Paul Corrigan.
In the world of health Paul is, frankly, a legend, being the man who, amongst many roles, is well-known for being Tony Blair’s senior health policy adviser and the man behind Foundation Trusts. So it was with some trepidation that I checked he was indeed who I thought he was (which he was), and then did my best not to scare him off with some muddled talk about the Health White Paper.
Actually, I was able to note that I was the blogger who had done a “box set” of his insightful posts on the Health White Paper (which you can find here), as well as on Andrew Lansley’s weakness-from-strength position (here), for which Paul kindly thanked me.
Given the unusualness* of the situation**, I thought I’d share the experience, if only as an excuse to point you in the direction of Paul’s blog, which is a must if you have any sort of interest in health or social care.
*Actually, I suspect the situation wasn’t that unusual. For those with a good working knowledge of DH offices in London you’ll know that Skipton House is located at the end of the Bakerloo Line. Given that’s where I get the bus home from and the likelihood of Paul going to Skipton House for meetings etc. is high, then the encounter probably wasn’t statistically improbable.
**This is the second chance encounter I’ve been involved with as a result of my wonk-ish credentials: I sat close to Nat Wei on a train back from Manchester a couple of weeks ago; the difference being that I didn’t say hello on that occasion (which Paul may – or may not – find heartening!).
arbitrary constant 