Blog - Targets and safety by Jeremy Hunt (28 September 2022)

Summary

In this blog, Jeremy Hunt MP, Founder of Patient Safety Watch, argues against introducing more targets for GPs. The new Health Secretary, Therese Coffey MP, plans to introduce a target to ensure that all patients see their GP within two weeks. The blog highlights two issues with this approach:

1. Setting a new target won’t make it a reality
2. Having too many targets result is a system that depersonalises patients, deprofessionalises frontline staff and means it is difficult for health services to prioritise

It then proposes that the health system should learn from the UK education system's approach to regulatory oversight, which is aimed at driving up standards, rather than achieving grades.