NHS' national targets to be cut by two-thirds

The number of national targets with which NHS providers must comply will be cut from 62 to 20, Health Secretary John Reid announced today.

Existing national targets that will have been met by April 2005 - such as waiting times for A&E treatment - will become core standards which providers of care must maintain.

Mr Reid said that "improved performance across the NHS" meant there could now be "fewer national but more locally-agreed targets" with a stronger emphasis on the quality of patient care.

National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06-2007/08, published today, sets out the new targets and the new healthcare standards, detailing what patients can expect from NHS providers.

While the standards aim to safeguard and raise quality across the board, the national targets will accelerate improvements in a small number of national priority areas, the health department said.

The reduced number of national targets include:

• achieving year-on-year reductions in MRSA levels and future reductions in other hospital acquired infections
• an 18-week maximum waiting target from start time to treatment by 2008;
• helping people to manage their long-term conditions so they spend less time in hospital;
• and improving the health of black and ethnic minority communities.

Most current NHS targets were agreed in 2000 under the NHS Plan. Access targets (such as those on waiting times) run until 2008 while the outcome targets (such as those on cancer, coronary heart disease) run from 2000 to 2010.

But Mr Reid said that since many of these targets will be achieved before these dates, "a new set of standards - and a new focus - were needed".

(gmcg)