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As I write this I am sitting on a train threading itself at a snail’s pace between Sheffield and London St Pancras. I suppose it is better than travelling in reverse gear, but the fact that a modicum of adverse weather yesterday has lead to a complete melt-down of the UK’s railway system says a great deal about the way things run in this country – or don’t run, to be more exact!

I think that much the same can be said for the National Health Service. For many years there was quite outrageous neglect of this venerable and distinguished organisation’s infrastructure, and while the investment being injected by the current government is extremely welcome, it seems premature to declare the “bad old days” over yet.

For infectious diseases and microbiology these should, in fact, be halcyon days. The recent appearance of “Getting ahead of the curve” from the office of the Chief Medical Officer and the Department of Health is, potentially, manna from heaven for anyone working within the infection field. This document has something for everyone – it underlines the growing importance of the international dimension to health and disease, while HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, bioterrorism, antibiotic resistance, and a host of other infection-related matters of the greatest importance are dealt with within the pages of this very readable document. In my view it should be compulsory reading for everyone working within the field.

In addition, the “Sexual Health and HIV Strategy” and, more recently, the “Hepatitis C strategy” deal with areas of growing medical and social importance, both in terms of patient health and in terms of resource need. All of these documents can be downloaded for free from the Department of Health web site.

In fact, these three documents throw down the gauntlet to all of us working in the infection field, whether it be in the three broad disciplines of bedside infectious diseases & tropical medicine, laboratory microbiology & virology, or public health medicine & epidemiology. We must get involved in arguing and fighting our respective corners lest a great opportunity be lost.

Of great interest to a co-editor of a CPD Journal is the fact that firmly embedded within all these documents is the strongly and repeatedly expressed view that continuing professional development is of the greatest importance, not only for medical staff but also for all categories of healthcare and social care workers. As yet there is no mention of any new monies being targeted towards continual professional development, but the prioritisation of CPD and education in general is nevertheless welcome.

So, there we have it. As of 2002 the provision of infection-related services across the UK is a veritable patchwork quilt, with bedside Infectious Diseases particularly poorly represented in some parts of the country, but we have to hand documents that at least “talk the right talk”.

As I continue to slowly wend my way south, I have much time to reflect on life and other matters, and my mind drifts back to a visit I made to Germany last summer. There, I was delighted to meet up with a group of people I last met 30 years ago during a school exchange, and one lady seemed shocked to see me. She came over – “it is nice to see you looking so well, Steve – I had heard that you were dead!”

It just goes to show you that things can always be worse than they are!