A target requiring ambulances in England to attend less urgent 999 calls within 19 minutes is expected to be scrapped by the government. Is this a good idea?

The steps are part of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's drive to move away from what he considers to be the blunt system of targets which have been used in recent years. In its place, a measure of the "time to treatment" is likely to be introduced.

However, Justin Bowden, national officer of the GMB union, said: "The announcement to scrap the 19-minute response time for ambulances is a shocking scaling back of the service currently provided to the public."

Is it a good idea to replace targets for non-urgent cases? Will the scrapping of targets affect the quality of care received?