NHS Targets – Is the System Failing?
20/12/2014

by Dina Gray (Guest Author)
Over the last few days the press have been preoccupied with the fact that there is great pressure on the A&E departments on the run up to Christmas with the BBC reporting that:
- the lowest percentage of patients seen within four hours since monitoring began in 2010
- just under 90% of patients were seen within four hours in the seven days up to December 14
- just six out of 140 major units met the target to see 95% within four hours.
In addition the ambulance service has been reported to be missing targets because they can’t get patients into A&E.
This fixation on targets means that the reporting of the crisis looks dire; but should the press be berating the hospital boards or are these targets meaningless at such times? To set a sensible target the system itself has to be capable of meeting those targets. If the use of the system has changed, as has been reported, that patients are turning up to A&E because they are unable to see their GP, then the targets need to change to reflect how the whole system is being used. It is not good enough to use outdated targets to apportion blame – that is just measurement madness!
Dr Dina Gray is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management. For more information on target setting and its consequences see her book “Measurement madness – Recognizing and Avoiding the Pitfalls of Performance Measurement” written with Dr Pietro Micheli, Visiting Fellow, and Dr Andrey Pavlov, Lecturer, Cranfield Centre for Business Performance.
——–
BBC website, 20th December 2014 – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30541135
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Sign up to our ‘Making your research open access’ webinar – 9 February
Do you know your green from your gold? What are publisher deals, and how can they help you? My paper acknowledges UKRI funding, do I need to do anything special? What does an author accepted ...
How the Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc improved my career outlook
Hear from Harrison Jnr Ilodiwe, Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc, on his student experience at Cranfield. Why did you choose to study the Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc at Cranfield ...
Engineering problem to solve? Let Knovel help you find a solution
Did you know that Knovel provides you with more than just eBooks? Knovel is a key database for many engineering, mechanical and materials courses here at Cranfield University, and contains content from an extensive range ...
Working on your group project? We can help!
When undertaking a group project, typically you'll need to investigate a topic, decide on a methodology for your investigation, gather and collate information and data, share your findings with each other, and then formally report ...
Words matter – a conversational Integrated Vehicle Health Management lexicon
There are many well established barriers to successful digital transformation which prevent full realisation of desired benefits. It is generally recognised that only 30% of digital transformation efforts deliver these results. One of the ...
Library support for new research students
Welcome! We are very excited to welcome you to Cranfield, and we are looking forward to supporting you throughout your research degree. We are always happy to help you – all you need to do ...