But calling wait lists pointless is also pointless.

This is going to be ultra pedantic but in case I was misunderstood: I’m saying that using wait times as a target is pointless. Obvs we do need wait lists themselves…

What would you propose as a method for measuring NHS effectivness.

First I know I’m not qualified in any way to answer this and there will be people with knowledge who can provide a far better answer. But if you do want my opinion then I’d say a reasonable place to start would be to simply ask the patient. The written answers will be subjective but you can collate all the [yes/no] answers together to see objective patterns of whether patient satisfaction is improving or getting worse.

How long were you waiting? (Number of weeks) (Would be very interesting to compare this subjective answer to the actual recorded data) Was the wait time acceptable? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> Did your condition deteriorate as a result of the delay? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> How did you condition deteriorate? [Answer in as many words as you like, or possibly a tree of yes/no questions]

Did you receive treatment? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> Did the treatment improve your condition? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> Why didn’t the treatment help with your condition? [Answer in as many words as you like, or possibly a tree of yes/no questions]

Were you referred to another service? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> Do you agree with the decision to refer you elsewhere? [Yes/No/I don’t know] -> Why don’t you believe the referral is correct? [Answer in as many words as you like, or possibly a tree of yes/no questions]

Overall how satisfied were you satisfied? [0-10] -> How could we improve? [Answer in as many words as you like, or possibly a tree of yes/no questions]