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New health secretary appointment: Twitter reacts

New health secretary appointment:  Twitter reacts
By Gemma Collins
10 July 2018



The departure of Jeremy Hunt as health and social care secretary and the appointment of Matt Hancock, formerly digital, culture, media and sport secretary as a result of the cabinet reshuffle triggered by the resignations of Brexit secretary David Davis and foreign secretary Boris Johnson has, unsurprisingly, generated quite the Twitter response.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of NHS Confederation, tweeted a reaction that included praise for Mr Hunt, despite the barrage of criticism he faced during his tenure as health secretary  – a remit that was extended to also include social care in in January this year.

In its response, the BMA highlighted that Mr Hancock is taking over the reigns for health and social care at pivotal point for the health and care sector.

In a tweet posted before the official confirmation of Mr Hunt’s transition to the foreign secretary role, Kailash Chand, honorary vice president of the BMA commented:

Dr Ben White, part of the campaign group JR4NHS, was one of many to draw attention to the link between the new health and social care secretary and free-market think-tank Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

In 2016 it was revealed that Mr Hancock, then minister for the cabinet office, had accepted donations by Neil Record, chairman of IEA.

This included a £4,000 donation made months before introducing a controversial new regulation preventing charities from using public grants to lobby government  – drawing on research by the IEA, which backed the rule change.

Dr Sonia Adesara tweeted her belief that the new health and social care secretary will not change the current course for the NHS:

Mr Hancock himself shared his enthusiasm for his new role in cabinet:

Departing health and social care secretary Mr Hunt, who is the country’s longest-serving health secretary to date, tweeted that it had been ‘a privilege’ to do the job for so long:

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