Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, has scrapped two key NHS waiting-time targets and called for management costs to be slashed by almost half, signalling a shake-up of the health service.
Lansley said he was ending the right of patients to see a family doctor within 48 hours and axing the 18-week target covering the period from hospital referral to start of treatment. Both were key planks of the Labour government’s health policy, which had used large cash injections and targets to improve the NHS.
Campaigners expressed concern that abolishing targets without a replacement system could lead to a “free-for-all” in which health providers were not held to account.
The coalition administration says allowing patients access to accurate information on the way a hospital performs will help it make judgments about the quality of services.
Read more at The Guardian.
Tags: Targets
