In 1999 the Department of Health appointed the first of nine health tsars to help shape a variety of services from primary care to cancer, heart disease, and services for children and older people. This was the first time clinicians could direct change at a national level from a department of the government. Five years down the line Burke (p 126) asked them to summarise their achievements and other people to assess their work. In an accompanying editorial Burns (p 117), the former cancer tsar for Scotland, tells us what it takes to be a tsar: be open to ideas and have money to spend, but also be ready to take jealousy and hostility from some of your colleagues.
Figure 1.
Credit: TOPHAM PICTUREPOINT