Waiting time targets – like happiness – are best pursued indirectly
It sounds sensible to book patients in before they breach the target. But in practice it is unfair, unsafe, and keeps waiting times on the brink of failure. There is a better way.
The limits of fire-fighting
Get a list of patients who are about to breach the target. Book them in before they do. Job done. Or is it? Everything else is uncontrolled, and one day it will overwhelm you. There must be a way to get the whole system working better.
Blog posts
Managing to the RTT target
A deeper dive into the incentives created by various elective waiting time targets, compared with patient-centred booking.
The hare, the tortoise, and restoring 18 week waits
The money's on its way, and the government wants to restore 18 week waits. Waiting list initiatives have a proven track record, don't they? And so did Aesop's hare.
Important Benefits
