Depending on how you think, a Think Tank is either; the 7th album by Blur, released in 2003, or a concept that goes back to the time when emperors and kings argued with the Catholic Church about taxes and the tradition of hiring independent advice about royal prerogatives.
The military have a long tradition of think-tanks, the Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies was founded in 1831.
I always think, think-tanks must be stuffed full of brain-boxes bigger than mine and I should listen to what they tell me.
Since I was in a learning set at the King's Fund, I have been in awe how clever people are. Give good people the time and space to think and they'll come up with ideas that dazzle.
So it is, you can imagine, when I found out the combined brain-boxes of the Health Foundation and the King's Fund had got together on the knotty topic of social care funding, I held my breath in eager anticipation.
Health think-tanks recycle their staff around each other, very few new thinkers have emerged over the last twenty, turbulent years of the NHS. The names haven't changed, it's just email addresses that change.
There's not a lot to chose between them. There might be a good argument for merging them into a super-thinking-tanker.
That aside, the great report, the sum total of the electric, super-fizzin', deep-mind, combined think-tankery was published at midnight last night.
... what a disappointment. With a free morning and Google you could have written it. There are no 'next steps' just a dance around the problem's handbag.
In fairness the report says they don't seek solutions. Why not. Isn't it what think-tanks do? We need
solutions not summaries
.
The report is not entirely useless; it's a lazy-man's gazette of the problems. Numbers to pinch for your next Powerpoint and some neatly laid out options. Alas, nothing a more energetic person couldn't have found out for themselves.
Any manager who has written a Board briefing on the topic will already have written this.
There's a passage on public perceptions... from a polling company. Mmm...
Given polling's form on elections I don't know how reliable it is. It does strike a chord with conversations over a coffee; people think taxes are a good way to syndicate their risks of old age and what-not. My guess is, they've got this right.
The report's up-shot...
- Sustaining the current system will be expensive.
- 'Doing nothing' is not a safe.
- To support reform, people need a better understanding of the problems, but politicians are not best placed to provide it.
- A cross-party coalition is required.
... see I told you... you could have written that. You know this stuff.
As thinking goes this is musing, daydreaming, reflecting. It's reasonable but not reasoned. It's studious but not studied. It's intelligent but not bright. There are no answers here.
Is funding elder care capable of a solution? Of course;
- A couple of pence on income tax and you are out of jail.
- Pay relatives to give up work, train them and let them look after their family members.
- Create savings bonds for elder care with contributions of cash or assets and withdrawals, all tax-free.
- Place a cap on contributions and you have an insurable risk the markets can create products for.
There must be better ideas than my four.
We're certain the ideas are out there, we are confident you will have a contribution to make. The problem is, no one ever asks the people doing the job.
I know you will have a
contribution
to make and have better ideas than this.
So, let's not worry about conferences making money. Let's forget ticket prices. It's more important we find some real, workable, problem-solving ideas.
I want you there...
Let's
make it easy... if you work in the NHS or social care, email us here and we will give you a free ticket.
Come along and bring your best thinking. The format is different and details are here. Be part of the solution, for a change!
We'll even give you a free glass of wine to get the juices flowing.
See you there...
