To think there is a problem with the system not a problem with the people

[goshhhhhh]

The last few months there have been issues highlighted of hospitals falsifying data (colchester) or schools cheating on SATS. In there cases police are brought in to investigate and or people are disciplined or dismissed. AIBU to think there is a problem with the system if people feel they need to behave this way & rather than spending money on this type of investigation we would be better off looking at & understanding the root of the problem. Maybe there is too much pressure to reach ridiculous targets in stretched services. Is blaming an easy way to divert attention from the real problem?

I personally think it is a problem with the people, more specifically the cultures.

Measuring abstract things in statistics can never be a foolproof way of gauging the performance - there will always be other factors to consider. Problem is when people forget that and just use the numbers as a weapon to beat people around the head with. I can't think of another fairly easy, clear way to have a national standard within healthcare or education. We do need something as a way to understand how well or how badly a particular service is.

As an example, if you have a set of statistics that show 10 hospital A&E's breeching their 4 hour waiting times, what happens now is a load of bad publicity, a breech of your licence and possibly a fine (never understood the financial argument for that). Really that measurement should be used purely as a flag for investigation to see if there is a remedy for the issue or a problem that needs to be resolved or removed.

Because culturally within the NHS (imho) taking responsibility for a situation like the above means career suicide because a solution is likely to cost money or highlight some shady in-house politics, people would rather pretend that it's a tangible target that can be achieved no matter the circumstances and fiddle their figures. Same with DNA figures (people who haven't attended).

If the culture could be changed to treat these measurements properly they'd be really useful to improvements.

I agree cultures I suppose I think of that as a systemic problem & that is a number of individuals. However I think it is a waste of energy blaming an individual or trying to find a scapegoat we would better off trying to understand what happened & why. And why for instance it is almost impossible to hit certain targets. Eg east of England ambulance can't hit targets due to geography & targets designed for London (my simplified & probably uninformed opinion)