Performance Management in the Public Sector: The Case of the English Ambulance Service

This chapter examines performance measurement within the public sector, with particular reference to the English ambulance service. Recent experience concerned the perverse incentives inherent in using single dimension performance measures. However, performance evaluation now better reflects the changing role of ambulance paramedics, which stresses clinical activity rather than simply the speedy transportation of patients to hospital. Analysis of these developments is placed within the context of theory derived from New Public Management and New Public Governance. The topic is significant for the academic study of management control in organizations and also to policy makers, managers and public sector professionals.