By Jaimie Kaffash
25 February 2010
Improvements in outpatient satisfaction in England, revealed in a study released today, will be sustainable even with the NHS spending squeeze, doctors’ leaders have said.
The survey by the Care Quality Commission reveals that patients are waiting less than six weeks to get an outpatient appointment, are being given greater choice in their appointment times and are rarely delayed for longer than 15 minutes.
Patients are also happier with the care they are receiving from staff, saying they are being more involved in decisions about their treatment, are being listened to and are being taken more seriously. Hospitals are also cleaner.
Health minister Ann Keen said: ‘NHS staff should be pleased that 95% of outpatients rate their overall care as good, very good or excellent. This is a testament to their hard work and dedication.’
Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, told Public Finance that these improvements can be attributed to greater professionalism and changes in practice.
‘They are sustainable, but it is a matter of how much work needs to be done to achieve it. It was enormously heartening. Many of the improvements don’t take resource effort. Many of them are to do with the professionalism of the doctor. I’d be horrified if anyone suggested this was to do with financial remuneration,’ he said.
‘They are related to professional developments in which doctors have been centrally involved in partnership working with management and administration colleagues designed to improve the service by addressing patient satisfaction, understanding and communication.’
The clinical vice president of the Royal College of Physicians, Dr Mike Cheshire, told PF that this highlighted the need for an NHS to be led by senior doctors.
‘These improvements are the result of real professional engagement and a commitment to achieve meaningful clinical targets,’ he said. ‘They should be sustainable even within a restricted budget provided that the primacy of a consultant-delivered service is recognised not only as high-quality but efficient and cost-effective care. Right time, right place, right doctor first time.’
However, Ruth Thorlby, research fellow at the King’s Fund think-tank warned that waiting time targets will be one of the most vulnerable areas for many trusts when funding cuts start to take effect.
The survey came the day after the publication of an independent inquiry into poor practice at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. Porter said that examples such as this might affect the reputation of the wider NHS overall, although patient satisfaction remained high.
‘Surveys consistently show that patients value the service they get but there are instances of substandard service – in the case of Mid-Staffordshire, catastrophically so. But what we see in the CQC survey is the workings of the whole NHS. The really important part of reputation is perceptions by patients. Patients and the public can be very different entities.’
25 February 2010
Improvements in outpatient satisfaction in England, revealed in a study released today, will be sustainable even with the NHS spending squeeze, doctors’ leaders have said.
The survey by the Care Quality Commission reveals that patients are waiting less than six weeks to get an outpatient appointment, are being given greater choice in their appointment times and are rarely delayed for longer than 15 minutes.
Patients are also happier with the care they are receiving from staff, saying they are being more involved in decisions about their treatment, are being listened to and are being taken more seriously. Hospitals are also cleaner.
Health minister Ann Keen said: ‘NHS staff should be pleased that 95% of outpatients rate their overall care as good, very good or excellent. This is a testament to their hard work and dedication.’
Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, told Public Finance that these improvements can be attributed to greater professionalism and changes in practice.
‘They are sustainable, but it is a matter of how much work needs to be done to achieve it. It was enormously heartening. Many of the improvements don’t take resource effort. Many of them are to do with the professionalism of the doctor. I’d be horrified if anyone suggested this was to do with financial remuneration,’ he said.
‘They are related to professional developments in which doctors have been centrally involved in partnership working with management and administration colleagues designed to improve the service by addressing patient satisfaction, understanding and communication.’
The clinical vice president of the Royal College of Physicians, Dr Mike Cheshire, told PF that this highlighted the need for an NHS to be led by senior doctors.
‘These improvements are the result of real professional engagement and a commitment to achieve meaningful clinical targets,’ he said. ‘They should be sustainable even within a restricted budget provided that the primacy of a consultant-delivered service is recognised not only as high-quality but efficient and cost-effective care. Right time, right place, right doctor first time.’
However, Ruth Thorlby, research fellow at the King’s Fund think-tank warned that waiting time targets will be one of the most vulnerable areas for many trusts when funding cuts start to take effect.
The survey came the day after the publication of an independent inquiry into poor practice at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. Porter said that examples such as this might affect the reputation of the wider NHS overall, although patient satisfaction remained high.
‘Surveys consistently show that patients value the service they get but there are instances of substandard service – in the case of Mid-Staffordshire, catastrophically so. But what we see in the CQC survey is the workings of the whole NHS. The really important part of reputation is perceptions by patients. Patients and the public can be very different entities.’
