Public opinion and political resolve.

A new year tends to make us think about what is possible in the year ahead, whether we’re quitting smoking or becoming more active. Now as we approach the end of January, some resolutions remain active, while others are no more than a memory of good intentions. The Prime Minster’s (PM) first significant announcement of 2012 was about nursing, and his ‘Patients not paperwork’ initiative (HM Government, 2012) certainly has the ring of a well-intentioned new year’s resolution. We have now had two consecutive PMs who have felt it necessary to respond to the ‘what to do about nursing’ question. Gordon Brown launched his commission in the twilight of his premiership, heralding a ‘new era’ for nursing. In the initiative announced on 6 January, David Cameron sets out five priorities for nursing designed to reduce bureaucracy and return the focus to quality of care: