For those of you at a complete loss about what to take on the beach with you in terms of reading matter, can I suggest the NIHR Annual Report which came out last week?

Note the very strong message on public and patient involvement in research in the Minister, Earl Howe’s, foreword which is then carried through into Chapter One.   Seriously, it is the first time I’ve read the NIHR annual report and thought that it has fulfilled its mission of explaining what it does no matter who is reading it.

I think we are all anticipating the follow-up short story in the autumn which will bring the tale up-to-date post Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).