Kerman University of Medical Sciences International Journal of Health Policy and Management 2322-5939 12 Issue 1 2023 12 01 Beyond Received Wisdom and Authorised Accounts: What Knowledge Is Needed to Avoid Repeating History?; Comment on “‘Attending to History’ in Major System Change in Healthcare in England: Specialist Cancer Surgery Service Reconfiguration” 1 3 4368 10.34172/ijhpm.2022.7647 EN Graham P. Martin University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 0000-0003-1979-7577 Journal Article 2022 08 24 <span class="fontstyle0">Perry and colleagues’ study of a programme to reconfigure cancer surgery provision in Greater Manchester highlights the importance of accounting for history in making successful change. In this short commentary, I expand on some of Perry and colleagues’ key findings. I note the way in which those leading change in Greater Manchester combined formal expertise in change management with sensitivity to local context, enhancing their approach to change through attention to details around relationships, events and assumptions that might otherwise have derailed the process. I identify lessons for others in how best to account for history in leading change, highlighting in particular the need to attempt to access and understand forms of history that may be suppressed, difficult-to-articulate, or otherwise marginalised.</span> https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4368_ae0909a324fb2530e205e52d40266418.pdf