NHS target culture

NHS target culture

A UK term of art referring to the focusing by managers in NHS organisations on objective and tangible goals (targets), including financial targets (e.g., cutting an annual budget by £5 million) or time targets (e.g., being seen within 4 hours by a doctor or nurse in A&E or beginning definitive cancer therapy within 31 days of urgent GP referral, etc.), often to the exclusion of non-objective measures of care quality, including changing of bed linen, responding to call alarms, etc.