One staff member said the word, “Cattle market” came up quite a lot.”
By Sarah Terzo
An abortion clinic inspected in England was cited for paying employees bonuses based on how many women went through with their abortions. The clinic had “Key Performance Indicators” that they had to meet. The KPI mandated the number of abortions workers were expected to sell. This encouraged workers to pressure women to have abortions and also led to women being rushed through the facility so that more abortions could be done.
From the report:
“Staff expressed concern that they were assessed and bonuses were paid based on performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) … Staff felt that this corporate focus on achieving KPIs worked against the concept of patient choice.
The team meeting minutes dated 14 April showed that staff had raised concerns with the manager about the KPIs and the pressure this put staff under to rush consultations…..
Staff we spoke with talked about a lack of time and need to keep the appointment on track. One member of staff said about the information provided, “They can’t take it all in, it’s so fast”. This presented a risk that consent was not fully informed.
We observed a member of staff passing the consent form to the patient to read and sign whilst they cleaned the room. There was no opportunity given for discussion or questions and when questioned the member of staff felt this was because of a lack of time….
Staff were concerned that ‘Did Not Proceed’, the term used when women decided not to proceed with treatment… was linked to their performance bonus. They felt that this encouraged staff to ensure that patients underwent procedures.
Staff were also concerned that the pressurised environment and linking of KPIs to performance bonuses meant that there was a culture that worked against patient choice….One staff member describe it as “feeling like a hamster in a wheel” and said the word, “Cattle market” came up quite a lot.”
From “Care Quality Commission on Marie Stopes International, Date of inspection visit: 17 May 2016 Date of publication: 02/10/2017”
Editor’s note. This appeared at Clinic Quotes and is reposted with permission.