Government ‘unhelpfully fixated on emergency care waiting time targets’

A leading thinktank has accused the government of being too fixated on its headline four-hour waiting time target for accident and emergency departments.

The Nuffield Trust has stated that a 'disproportionate' focus is currently applied to this target, when in fact new approaches to performance management, with other measures given equal status to the four-hour target, could be more beneficial.

It stated that significant amounts of staff time are currently spent reporting to commissioners and regulators, with potentially detrimental impacts on the quality of care. Moreover, it was suggested that long-term trends and immediate causes are often confused.

Instead, the thinktank suggesting analysing the number of people leaving A&E without being seen, or how long people wait on trolleys after the decision has been made to admit them to hospital.

Nigel Edwards, chief executive at the Nuffield Trust, said: "England's A&E system is near crisis. With the financial squeeze set to continue, there is no relief in sight if we keep up the current approach."

Missing the four-hour waiting time target has been a persistent problem for the NHS in recent times, with pressures on emergency departments likely to increase as the number of admissions rises.