The NHS is living in unprecedented times. Over the past four decades, those working in the health service become ever more used to ministers unveiling "once in a lifetime" plans to reorganise and reform it; and to see those plans run into opposition of various kinds.

But it is unprecedented for a government to present its ideas to Parliament, to be forced to 'pause' them for revision in the Commons, and then to run into real trouble a whole year later when they finally reach the Lords. It is also unprecedented for the NHS to have been reorganised while the political debate is unresolved. Yet that is where the NHS is today.

This week, another royal medical college and the editors of the country's major health publications came out against the Health and Social Care Bill. But the NHS Commissioning Board is starting work in Leeds; and issuing plans for everything from commissioning to IT.

As it does so, however, there is still virtually no news about what will happen to NHS Connecting for Health and other national IT services. Away from the political turmoil, the EHI CCIO Campaign continues to gather pace, with another CCIO - Dr Rhidian Bramley - taking up the title specifically to support the campaign; about which there will be more news next week.

Lansley Bill comes under further fire

Health secretary Andrew Lansley is being put under further pressure to agree to amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill designed to enact his 'Liberating the NHS' reforms.

NHS CB starts to clarify IT role

The chief technology office and some of the functions of the Department of Health Informatics Directorate will transfer to the new NHS Commissioning Board in Leeds; but the future of other IT bodies has yet to be decided.

DH expects 25-35 CSOs in England

The Department of Health has estimated that there will be between 25 and 35 commissioning support organisations in the reorganised NHS in England - equivalent to one for every two primary care trust clusters.

Royal Liverpool leads on case management

The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust has gone live with what it understands to be the first case management system in the UK.

Humber wants mobile Lorenzo

Humber NHS Foundation Trust has put its hand up to be one of the first to trial the mobile version of Lorenzo.

Cheshire social care staff access PDS

Social workers and social care assessors at Cheshire East Council are accessing the NHS Personal Demographic Service using Esprit's ShareCare system.

Kent takes wraps off condom finder app

A new mobile phone app has been launched in Kent that directs teenagers towards the nearest place where free condoms are given out.

EHI Mobile

Mobile health is one of the fastest developing areas of e-health and this group is dedicated to all things mobile health related, be they apps, devices, telehealth, tablets or even just plain old text messaging.

"Surely no one really expects this to be the final set of changes? 5 year stability would be pretty good. I used to expect a change around every 3 years as the norm."

It is with a heavy heart that the diary has to break the news to the many PRs that it deals with that press releases are not the most exciting part of the EHI newsdesk's day. Interesting - often. Informative - more often than not. Worth a call - quite frequently. Exciting - rarely.

So hats off to Luc Zentar from ANS Group, who headlined his press release about ANS winning a contract to switch NHS Kingston's data centre from using a rival company's products to its own: "If you're having IT problems we feel bad for you son. Kingston PCT got 99 problems but a switch ain't one - hit me." For readers of a High Court judge persuasion, this picks up on the lines of a well-known rap. And it's very clever. Having said that, one rapping NHS IT press release is quite enough, thank you.

"The upheaval has been unnecessary, poorly conceived, badly communicated and a dangerous distraction at a time when the NHS is required to make unprecedented savings. Worse, it has destabilised and damaged one of this country's greatest achievements..."

The Health Service Journal, British Medical Journal, and Nursing Times editorialise about the government's reforms.