The “pause” in the progress of the Health Bill, if nothing else, gives us a chance to enjoy a bit of theatre.  The Government has told us it wants to listen. See, this is us listening.  You can tell because here we are sitting in front of you, hands clasped, leaning forward, looking uncomfortable, with a furrowed brow.  This listening is serious business.

The actually mechanics of the listening process are of course classic civil service and inevitably prevent listening rather than enable it.  Create a reference group carefully drawn from organisations and ‘well- intentioned’ individuals, some with the Honours List in their eyes (in this case the Future Forum).  Control the inputs and outputs carefully.  Write to “Stakeholders” to invite comment on a narrower range of issues by a specific deadline. Get the Ministers to meet a few high-profile groups so they can be seen to be listened to.

This is not to say there is no opportunity for influence and change here.  The central issues remain those of connection and behaviour rather than accountability and structure, which the Bill embodies. The true test of the Health Bill is whether it allows both health professionals (wherever they work) and the public to feel that they are being listened to and are able to influence the way forward not as a one-off, but for ever.

To do this circumstances have to be generated where both the public and health professionals are operating as equal allies who recognize the opportunities and dangers in the world of health and add their own different value to health care in the UK on a continuous basis.

This doesn’t mean they have to run or necessarily control health services, which is more about managerial expertise and the mechanisms of honest accountability. But it does require a change in behaviour, not least on part of the health professionals who need to drop the easy default position of shroud waving which paralyses necessary change.  Also needing to go is their paternalistic view of the public which has neutralised their essential contribution to health for too long.  That era is over.

However, until the Health Bill can generate a sense amongst the public and professionals that health services are safe, owned locally and largely de-politicised, the current listening will be another piece of old-fashioned and pointless theatre. The way to judge the outcome of the “pause” is whether it leads to a live connection between the public and the professionals rather than their intermediaries – allowing better quality drama on a new stage.  This I fear is unlikely given the way this is being staged.