22 April 2005
Improvements in high-profile NHS treatment areas such as cancer and heart disease are masking patient satisfaction problems elsewhere, according to patient research specialist the Picker Institute.
Its analysis of 15 national surveys, Is the NHS getting better or worse?, published on April 18, shows that patients still want more information on and involvement in decisions about their care. The report draws together responses from more than a million patients who have participated in the National Patient Survey Programme.
Picker Institute chief executive Professor Angela Coulter said that, although levels of satisfaction were high and improving, other aspects of patient experience needed urgent attention. 'The future of health care in the UK has become a battlefield for all the main parties in the lead up to the election,' she said.'The results of these surveys demonstrate that politicians need to listen to what the public is saying.'
In 2004, 47% of inpatients, 30% of outpatients, 36% of A&E patients and 32% of primary care patients said they would like to have had more say in what happened to them.
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