[graypegg]

No I do agree with that! I assume doctors are working in the best interest of their patients. That includes not running arbitrary tests. But I can also imagine a bureaucrat thinking an explanation for each test to be promoting "transparency". (Read: discourage spending as transparency in this case means you're being audited, reflecting that distrust of professionals from non-professionals.)

Not saying it's a good thing! Just that one team has been told the forms are important by another team, so they pitch automating the filling of the form, rather than the obvious solution of: no form.

The patient choice aspect is interesting. These processes becoming a game played by people wanting to take advantage of the system is another aspect where this form-heavy process fails, but a bureaucrat could argue that it still (however badly) discourages overconsumption of the system from patients.

Edit, I should mention: I am Canadian, though we have similar issues with our provincial health systems. If there is a specific British/NHS aspect to this I am missing, that will be why.

[DrScientist]

I am talking about the NHS - but challenges around balancing trust v. bureaucracy is universal - public/private, large and small.

The problem of politicians without a small amount of knowledge enough to be dangerous being led astray by consultants with whiteboard/napkin level simplistic visions I suspect also crosses national boundaries.