NHS care in England is still not centred on patients
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《英国医生杂志》
Surveys involving more than a million NHS patients in England show that although certain areas of health care, such as waiting times, cancer care, and coronary heart disease, have improved in recent years, patient centred care is still not routine. Results of the 15 surveys done between 1998 and 2005 by the Picker Institute, which runs the national patient survey programme for the NHS in England, show that patients still want more information about their treatment and to be involved more in decisions about their care. They also want more help transferring from hospital to home and easier access to their GP with appointments at more convenient times.
Angela Coulter, chief executive of the Picker Institute, said, "This is the first time that the views of so many patients have been pulled together in one report. While the quality of the care has improved for patients in specific priority groups, others have seen little improvements. Levels of satisfaction are high and improving, but these overall ratings mask some key problem areas."
Hospital cleanliness was among patients' chief concerns, and many patients need better pain relief and more information about the potential side effects of their medications, say the surveys.
The results of the surveys clearly show that improvements have been made where the government has set national targets. For example, the number of people waiting for more than three months for an outpatient appointment fell from 25% in 2003 to 17% in 2004. Similarly, 80% of cancer patients saw a specialist within one month of referral in 2004 compared with 70% in 2000.
In 2004, however, half of inpatients and a third of outpatients, emergency department patients, and primary care patients said they would have liked more say in what happened to them. Of every 10 patients, four said that they were not told about how to look after themselves and what danger signals to look out for. And half of all mental health patients said that they had not been given a number to call if they needed help out of office hours.
"Many aspects of patients' experience still need urgent attention. The future of health care in the has become a battlefield for all the main parties in the lead up to the election. The results of these patient surveys demonstrate that politicians need to listen to what the public is saying and make sure that their views count. In this case, it's the patient who knows best, not the doctor—and certainly not always the politician," said Professor Coulter.(Zosia Kmietowicz)
Angela Coulter, chief executive of the Picker Institute, said, "This is the first time that the views of so many patients have been pulled together in one report. While the quality of the care has improved for patients in specific priority groups, others have seen little improvements. Levels of satisfaction are high and improving, but these overall ratings mask some key problem areas."
Hospital cleanliness was among patients' chief concerns, and many patients need better pain relief and more information about the potential side effects of their medications, say the surveys.
The results of the surveys clearly show that improvements have been made where the government has set national targets. For example, the number of people waiting for more than three months for an outpatient appointment fell from 25% in 2003 to 17% in 2004. Similarly, 80% of cancer patients saw a specialist within one month of referral in 2004 compared with 70% in 2000.
In 2004, however, half of inpatients and a third of outpatients, emergency department patients, and primary care patients said they would have liked more say in what happened to them. Of every 10 patients, four said that they were not told about how to look after themselves and what danger signals to look out for. And half of all mental health patients said that they had not been given a number to call if they needed help out of office hours.
"Many aspects of patients' experience still need urgent attention. The future of health care in the has become a battlefield for all the main parties in the lead up to the election. The results of these patient surveys demonstrate that politicians need to listen to what the public is saying and make sure that their views count. In this case, it's the patient who knows best, not the doctor—and certainly not always the politician," said Professor Coulter.(Zosia Kmietowicz)