The Bedpan: He’s back!

Why he matters: England’s longest serving health secretary has made the surprise move to become the new chair of the House of Commons health select committee.

What Care Quality Commission rating would Jeremy Hunt give his successor Matt Hancock?

The new health committee chair is too savvy to bite, but his diplomatic answer has the sort of sting in the tail the government will have to get used to.

”Matt is doing exactly the right thing in focusing on technology. [However], he will discover, as I discovered, that having a bright idea about how to make the NHS better is the easy bit; executing that idea is much tougher.”

“I still have the scars on my back from failing to deliver the 5,000 extra GPs I promised,” reflects Mr Hunt on the new government’s pledge to deliver 50,000 extra nurses to staff the 40 new hospitals that constitute its second big promise.

“I [also] know from my own experience that getting capital projects going is really hard, so 40 hospitals is highly ambitious,” he adds.