60% of patients not offered hospital choice, poll finds

7 Aug 14
Some 60% of patients were not offered a choice of hospital or clinic by their general practitioner for their first outpatient appointment, despite having a legal right to choose one, a survey of NHS appointments has found.

By Mark Smulian | 7 August 2014

Some 60% of patients were not offered a choice of hospital or clinic by their general practitioner for their first outpatient appointment, despite having a legal right to choose one, a survey of NHS appointments has found.

The examination of outpatient appointment referrals by health regulator Monitor and NHS England also found that only 51% of patients were aware of having this right.

The survey of 2,700 patients also found that people from black and minority ethnic groups were more likely to have discussed this choice with their GP, at 66% compared with 52% of white patients.

People who were retired or otherwise not working were more likely to be aware of the right to choose a hospital than were those who were employed.

Those who were offered a choice overwhelmingly felt that they had enough information to choose, with 89% agreeing this had been the case.

Monitor said the findings suggested some patients had discussions with their GP but were not offered a choice.

It speculated that this could be because they did not see such a discussion as amounting to having a choice, even if they make a joint decision with the GP.

Ian Dodge, NHS England’s national director for commissioning strategy said: ‘While patient choice of first outpatient appointment is a reality for some patients in England, the challenge now is to ensure that everyone enjoys their legal right, for example to choose hospitals or clinics with shorter waiting times, if that’s what they want, in both mental health and physical health services.’

The results showed that the NHS ‘needs to do more to make sure patients are aware they have a choice and are offered that choice’, Monitor’s co-operation and competition director Catherine Davies added.

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