According to The Sunday Times, the latest focus group driven nonsense idea, presented at a cabinet meeting last week, is that doctors and nurses should smile more "to give the impression of caring". Doesn't that just sum it up? Never mind whether they actually do care or not, let's just give the impression!

Now if you visit your GP I think there's every chance that you'll find him or her grinning ear-to-ear, as a result of the obscene amounts of your tax revenue that they are pocketing at the moment. Likewise should you happen to meet anyone who is raking it in from the Private Finance Initiatives then I think there's a fair chance that they will also be doing a good impression of the Cheshire Cat.

Meanwhile in your local NHS trust hospital things are probably a little different. I know because my wife works in one that is continually struggling to balance the books. Currently they are looking to cut beds despite the fact that these are permanently in short supply. Everyone is in 'headless chicken' mode as they continually battle over inadequate resources. The trust is in a seat which the Conservatives could comfortably hold if they selected a stuffed weasel as a candidate, so funds to ease their problems aren't likely to be forthcoming.

Meanwhile the BBC web site tells us "A report drawn up last year by the Department of Health's chief economist found the most crowded hospitals - with bed occupancy rates over 90% - had MRSA rates 42% higher than average." Pretty obvious really, but financial pressures on the trust are driving them to push bed occupancy rates higher and higher.

So if you see a hospital doctor or nurse smiling then it's highly likely to be a wry smile at the stupidity of it all. The best thing you can do is to clean up your lifestyle to maximise your chances of staying out of their domain.