Patricia Hewitt, Liar?

On the BBC's FOIA blog, Martin Rosenbaum reports:

It's a year since the Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt told a rowdy and dissatisfied audience at the Royal College of Nursing conference that she would work a night shift with a nurse who heckled her, and that it wouldn't be the first one.

When a neonatal nurse from South Tyneside challenged Hewitt about the level of staffing on night shifts, offering 'If you would like to come and work a night shift, Patricia, please contact me afterwards', the Health Secretary promptly replied 'Of course I'll do that, and it won't be the first one either.'

It then transpired that any 'night shift' she had worked so far lasted a maximum of 90 minutes. So has she worked any night shifts since then? The Department of Health has now told the BBC in reply to an FOI request that 'the Secretary of State has not worked any night shifts since the Royal College of Nursing Conference last year'.

Interesting. I'm sure the Nurses would be interested to read this.