DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 13 October 2008
The following
statistics were released today by the Department of
Health:
Report on the National Patient Choice Survey, May
2008, England, and provisional headline results of the July 2008
survey
The main findings of the May survey are:
* The percentage of patients recalling being offered a choice of
hospital for their first outpatient appointment was 45% in May
2008, compared with 47% in March and 30% in the first survey
(May/June 2006).
* 45% of patients were aware before they visited their GP that
they had a choice of hospitals for their first appointment, up
from 43% in March and 29% in the May/June 2006 survey.
* 61% of patients who were aware of choice recalled being offered
choice, whereas 32% of those not aware of choice recalled being
offered it, compared with 63% and 36% respectively in the March survey.
* 66% of patients were able to go to the hospital they wanted,
with a further 24% having no preference and 8% unable to go where
they wanted, compared with 67%, 23% and 7% respectively in March.
* 89% of patients offered choice were able to go to the hospital
they wanted, with a further 4% having no preference. This
compares with 45% of patients not offered choice able to go where
they wanted and 42% having no preference.
* 77% of patients were satisfied with how long they had to wait
from the time their GP referred them to when they saw the hospital specialist.
* Hospital cleanliness and low infection rates were selected most
often (by 75% of patients) as an important factor when choosing a hospital.
Provisional headline findings of the July 2008 survey are:
* 46% of patients recalled being offered a choice of hospital for
their first outpatient appointment, compared with 45% in the May survey.
* 46% of patients were aware before they visited their GP that
they had a choice of hospitals for their first appointment,
compared with 45% in May.
* 67% of patients were able to go to the hospital they wanted,
with a further 22% having no preference and 8% unable to go where
they wanted.
For the full report please see the following link -
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_089086