The Whitehall Effect: How Whitehall Became the Enemy of Great Public Services and What We Can Do about It

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In The WHITEHALL Effect, John Seddon explains how and why it is that governments repeatedly fail to deliver what our public services need and exposes the devastation that three decades of political fads, fashions and bad theory have caused. Although his examples come from the UK, he and his colleagues at Vanguard consult with government and public sector bodies in 10 countries and the problems he identifies (outsourcing, incentives, targets, standards, inspection) can be found in all Western political systems. With specific examples and new evidence, he chronicles how the Whitehall ideas machine has failed on a monumental scale - and the impact that this has had on public sector workers and those of us who use public sector services. The WHITEHALL Effect provides fresh insights into some of the most challenging issues of our time (because of their impact on health, education, policing and all public services) and reveals the unprecedented opportunity we now have to create the public services we all deserve.