RSSeNEWS to be determined...

BBC Radio 4's Analysis: In defence of targets

broadcast on Monday 21 September at 20.30 BST

As NHS targets fall out of political fashion, Michael Blastland argues they could be good for our health.

There have been disturbing tales of health service staff who "gamed" the system with fatal consequences for patients. Now targets, once seen by New Labour as the key to improving public services, look as if they may be on the way out.

The devolved health services of Wales and Scotland have already retreated from their previous target regimes. The Conservative Party has promised pledged to scrap NHS targets in England and there are signs that some of Gordon Brown's ministers are losing faith in them too.

But, discovers Michael Blastland, the research shows that targets have probably done far more good than harm. Our political masters, he concludes would do better to admit and deal with the weaknesses of the system rather than scrap it all together.

Interviewees include:

• Gwyn Bevan, Professor of Management Science, London School of Economics
• Richard Hamblin, director of investigations at the Care Quality Commission
• John Seddon, management consultant
• David Bowles, former NHS trust chair
• David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, University of Cambridge
• Liam Byrne, Minister for Public Service Reform

Michael Blastland is a journalist and broadcaster who specialises in challenging popular misconceptions based on a lack of numerical understanding. He is co-author of The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing through a world of numbers and Joe: The Only Boy in the World.