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Foucault on targets.

¹Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK.

Journal of Health Organization and Management

|September 16, 2004

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study examines how a National Health Service (NHS) trust responded to a 90% patient access target during a 2003 audit. It uses Foucault

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Area of Science:

Healthcare Management
Sociology of Health
Organizational Behavior

Background:

The National Health Service (NHS) faces persistent challenges in meeting patient access targets.
Understanding organizational responses to performance metrics is crucial for healthcare improvement.
A 2003 national audit provides a specific context to analyze behavior within an NHS trust.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the behavioral responses of individuals within a large NHS trust during a week-long national audit.
To explore why staff acted differently from their usual behavior when faced with a 90% patient access target.
To apply Michel Foucault's theories to interpret workplace behavior in the NHS.

Main Methods:

Qualitative analysis drawing on the work of Michel Foucault.

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Examination of discourses of power, knowledge, discipline, and governmentality.

Consideration of the historical context of discourse within the NHS.

Main Results:

Foucauldian themes of power, knowledge, discipline, and governmentality offer alternative interpretations of behavior.
Historical discourse significantly shapes current NHS organizational and individual behavior.
Disciplinary practices and governmentality, including national targets, maintain the status quo.

Conclusions:

NHS organizations naturally strive for order and conformity, especially when subjected to disciplinary processes like national targets.
Understanding the interplay of power, knowledge, and historical context is key to interpreting NHS staff behavior.
Foucault's concepts provide valuable insights into the complexities of healthcare organizations and their responses to performance demands.