The Kings Fund, a UK health think tank have recently conducted a report consulting patients, GPs and both NHS and private providers of care. Of the 2,181 patients questioned a mere 4% stated they had consulted the NHS Choices website when choosing a provider for their treatment, the NHS choices website is designed to allow patients to compare hospitals on factors such as infection rates. When choosing a provider the report found that 41% of respondents relied on their own experience, a further 10% relied on friends and family and 36% followed the direction of their GP.
Although the NHS has made a move to provide patients with more choice this unfortunately has not rung true in this report, it seems NHS patients are still not using the comparative data made available to aid choosing a hospital for their treatment, even fewer are aware of the possibility of accessing private providers.
Very few patients from the Kings Fund study were thought to have been offered an option with regards to their treatment and far fewer were aware that prior to visiting the GP, as a patient they have a right to this option. A majority with 69% of the respondents simply chose their local NHS provider.
Patients across England as of April 2008 have been given the right to choose treatment from any hospital listed in the national directory, this directory includes the private sector establishments.
The study found the two most important factors when choosing a hospital for treatment was cleanliness and the quality of care. When looking to the private sector infection rates and cleanliness were seen as particularly important. Waiting times have always been a differentiator for the private sector however now the NHS have introduce the maximum waiting times this seems to be of less importance with patients ranking it the 7th most important factor overall.
Choice is obviously a good thing, but like anything individuals need to be made aware of the changes and the benefits. This report may well have highlighted that the NHS is developing its services in the right direction, it simply needs to follow through and ensure that patients are taking advantage of these developments.
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