Monday, December 27, 2004

NHS Targets

Good letter in today's Guardian from Prof Alan Maynard on targets for GPs, money quote:

"Donald Irvine and the General Medical Council have at least one thing in common: they have no idea how many doctors are not competent to practice safely. This is because they, like the Department of Health, live in a "data free" world where available statistics are ignored and many activities of doctors are simply not quantified."

Good call, although targets are often criticised, most of them are there to make sure that patients recieve the best quality service possible. The Conservatives are pledged to abolish all NHS targets as soon as they are elected. Targets may be a hassle for good staff in the NHS, but identify the bad ones. We need better targets, not no targets at all.

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