Question: NHS the case continues

The outcome An inquest into the Mid-Staffordshire Hospital Trust by Monitor found failings in a number of areas. From a performance measurement and control perspective the two most relevant were;

1) a lack of clarity on the standards that should be achieved as the threshold for gaining Foundation status; and

2) that Monitor itself - the regulatory body - must revise its view of what information is required as evidence that performance standards are being achieved.

In addition, among the conclusions drawn by the official independent enquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC, there were two of particular interest to operations and performance management. First, in a conclusion entitled ‘Figures preferred to people' the inquiry found that performance data were often given more weight than the opinions of those involved, and that performance systems did not bring to light the serious and systemic failures in the hospital - this despite the sole purpose of performance measurement systems being to do just that. Second, another conclusion entitled ‘A focus on systems not outcomes', indicated that staff were focusing too much on the process and not enough on the care that resulted from the process - again despite the key consideration in designing operational systems being that they produce the correct outcomes.

Case question:

Discuss the difference between a public sector organisation and a private sector company. Do you think that the threat of going out of business tends to make it easier to implement performance measurement systems in a private sector company?