DH - Report of the National Patient Choice Survey, England - January 2008 – 12 Jun 08

• Extract from : http://tinyurl.com/3w9pon

This report gives the final results of around 72,000 responses to the eleventh national patient choice survey commissioned to assess the implementation of choice at PCT level. The series of surveys, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department, monitor patient awareness of choice and recall of having been offered a choice of hospital for their first outpatient appointment. They were designed to provide a national overview of choice and summary results at PCT level and generally have an effective response rate around 30%.

The main findings of the January survey are:

• The percentage of patients recalling being offered a choice of hospital for their first outpatient appointment was 46% in January 2008, compared with 44% in November and 48% in the March 2007 survey
• 43% of patients were aware before they visited their GP that they had a choice of hospitals for their first appointment, up from 41% in November and 29% in the May/June 2006 survey.
• 63% of patients who were aware of choice recalled being offered choice, whereas 34% of those not aware of choice recalled being offered it, compared with 61% and 32% respectively in the November survey.
• 67% of patients were able to go to the hospital they wanted, with a further 23% having no preference and 7% unable to go where they wanted, compared with 65%, 25% and 7% respectively in November 2007.
• 80% of patients were satisfied with how long they had to wait from the time their GP referred them to when they saw the hospital.
• Hospital cleanliness and low infection rates were selected most often (by 76% of patients) as an important factor when choosing a hospital.

Provisional headline findings of the March 2008 survey are:

• 47% of patients recalled being offered a choice of hospital for their first outpatient appointment, compared with 46% in the January survey.
• 43% of patients were aware before they visited their GP that they had a choice of hospitals for their first appointment, up from 42% in January.
• 68% of patients were able to go to the hospital they wanted, with a further 22% having no preference and 7% unable to go where they wanted.

Back to news index