Review

‘Innovation central to our future’

Catherine Levin reports from this year’s NHS Confed Expo. As more than 4,500 people gathered at Manchester Central for NHS Confed Expo, NHS England Chief Exec, Amanda Pritchard gave a rousing speech celebrating 75 years of the NHS. It was a passionate paean to the past with references to Nye Bevan that in many ways… Read more »

A powerful reminder of why change is needed

In Grenfell: System Failure, Director Nicolas Kent revisits his well trodden approach of taking excerpts from inquiry transcripts to provide an accessible, if at times hard to listen to, insight into the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. He says that the approach is effective and that by matching the actors to the real… Read more »

From starting line to finishing line: delivering a safe and secure Commonwealth Games

The multi-venue Commonwealth Games was the largest event in which West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) has ever been involved. More than three years’ planning and collaboration with partners culminated in a packed programme of world-class sport, broadcast to a global audience from 28 July to 8 August. Words: Phil Loach, Chief Fire Officer, West Midlands… Read more »

Policing the Glastonbury Festival

Mark Nicholson oversees police operations for the Glastonbury Festival. I have never been, but I was intrigued. He agreed to tell me all about it and he should know, after all, he’s been to a great many of them over the last thirty years. Words: Catherine Levin, Editor, Emergency Services Times Mark Nicholson is an… Read more »

Shaking the dust off a Cinderella service

In the world of the emergency services, the planners are the Cinderella service, working hard behind the scenes, often unrecognised for their contribution. Professor Lucy Easthope’s new book brings them out of the shadows and places them firmly into the spotlight in her new book, When the Dust Settles. Strictly speaking, her book is not… Read more »