Depending on which anonymous ministerial briefing you believe, the National Health Service is either (a) on the point of collapse because of elderly people “bed blocking” in acute hospitals or (b) about to invite private hotel firms to launch a new chain of “hospital hotels” for those who technically are “cured” but who cannot be easily discharged because of a lack of care at home.

Facts are few and far between, and I suspect that these two briefings will have come from opposite ends of the Coalition government – one being bad news (nothing to do with us) and one being bright and shiny news (watch out for this idea in our next election leaflet.) One fact which seems beyond dispute is that the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is not able to discharge about 30 patients a month because they have nowhere to go. Those 30 beds are therefore “blocked” and denied to new admissions, increasing waiting lists and times. If you are over 70 and live alone, you might think that getting in to the hospital is the difficult bit. But just you try getting out.

Not long ago many towns in Cornwall had their own cottage hospitals where people recovering from illness or operation could go and receive excellent care while completing their journey back to full fitness. The main hospital was then free to attend to those in need of acute treatment. Everyone was (relatively) happy.

But then the accountants decided that having only one National Health Service was just too easy to understand. They broke it up into myriad little pieces, a self-governing Trust here, a self-governing Trust there, with little bits of real estate occasionally declared “surplus” and flogged off.

I have no idea how the government is going to fix this.

The idea of private-sector hospital hotels backed by some kind of Private Finance Initiative money-lending already has me checking my wallet.

I hear the sound of a very expensive chicken looking for somewhere to roost.

A story with a happy ending?

It was August 2011 when this newspaper first reported that four Cornwall councillors had to be dragged through the courts before paying their council tax.

An anonymous commentator later posted on our website that one of the not-so-fab four was Launceston councillor Alex Folkes.

Much water has since passed under the bridge. We have seen confirmation (and his own admission) that councillor Folkes was in fact a serial council tax dodger over several years, there has been a full set of council elections, and several weeks of negotiations to form a new administration at County Hall. The dust has settled. We have order out of chaos.

And the councillor now in charge of financial matters for the whole council is (drum roll, trumpets) ....Launceston councillor Alex Folkes. No doubt we can now expect a serious crack-down on those who don’t pay their council tax on time.