What do you think about surgeons being rewarded for "Targets" It's obvious that they'll only do simple stuff

Question

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080719/tuk-surgeons-may-get-operation-bonuses-6323e80.html

It's perfectly obvious that surgeons will only do simple operations,those with virtually no risk of failure!

If you have a boil on your bum you'll be put at the head of the queue. Other,more complex,cases will be told to f*** off!

I can just imagine the consultants:

"Bah Gum! 185 ingrowing toe nails in 1 day! That's the swimming-pool paid for!"

Answer 1

Only a government run by people who have spent their time on political committees could come up with an asinine policy like this. We need to automatically remember these time-servers and refuse to elect them again.

Answer 2

This government is obsessed with figures when it comes to assessing and finding a solution to any issue. Their insistance on assessing every human activity using statistics-based templates over the past ten years or so has had dire consequences for the running of public services and has led to the creation of a mammoth administration.

There is a sharp contrast between their unconditional surrender to the free-market, globalized economy is in sharp contrast with their obsession with vainly trying to control every detailed aspect of how people live their lives.

How anyone can imagine, from the plush office in London, that the prospect of a bonus can improve the dedication and the skills of a surgeon at the operating table?

An army of number-crunchers is now busy collecting meaningless data that will form the basis for the next initiative from a government that is bereft with ideas on how to improve the running of the country.

I suspect the government are running secret bets to determine who will come up with the most stupid idea for a new bill. This one should win hands down.

Answer 3

It's been going on for years and if you are prepared to pay you will be top of the list anyway.

Answer 4

They talk about similar things here in the US.  The result will be that if you have anything remotely challenging or risky, you'll have a tough time finding a surgeon.

Bad, bad, bad idea.

Answer 5

My loathing for self serving politicians grows by the day.

I have heard some grossly stupid things over the last few weeks...but this has to be the most vile and putrid of them all.

NNNNGGGHHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!

I will pray that your prophecy does not come true.

Answer 6

The sad truth is that the people with money to choose a surgeon and who have good health to start with will be able to choose the surgeons with good stats.

People with complex cases who need long surgery or who have a poor chance of surviving surgery will wither be refused surgery or will end up having to be operated on by a surgeon with 'bad' stats. Which will obviously leave the realtives of these patients feeling agrieved with the treatment no matter how good it is.

This already happens in the UK though. Patients are very often seen on the basis of the time they have been on the waiting list rather than clinical need. So everybody tends to wait the maximum time that they are supposed to be on the waiting list, whether they have an excrutiating painfull knee or a bit of a niggly joint. And surgeons are rewarded not for helping patients, but reducing waiting lists.

Answer 7

Could not agree more.

I've had 2 hospital (NHS) sessions in the last 2 years.  Basic nursing standards were excellent.

But I had a great sense of unease about the the sheer amount of paper-work, target objectives set by centralist 'authorities' keen to prove the NHS sacred cow is working better than before.

I doubt it is - believe their anxiety to prove otherwise is yet another over-load on the system - counter-productive.

Any idiot can fiddle or forge figures/stats to show improvements - but Brown & Co have got away with that for far too long - and it's time the juggling with numbers ceased.