Patient surveys - recognised internationally as a key marker of the quality of care, and an important tool for improvement in the NHS - provide a unique perspective, complementing the wealth of other data on hospital performance gathered by trusts and regulators. Now, for the first time, The King’s Fund ...
In this response The King’s Fund highlight two pieces of their recent research: “Making shared decision-making a reality: no decision about me, without me” (Coulter and Collins 2012) produced a clear definition of shared decision-making and outlined what steps need to be taken to implement it; and “Patients’ preferences matter: ...
This response is one of two submitted by The King’s Fund to the government’s consultations: on an information revolution and on greater choice and control. These responses are also available on our website, together with our previous consultation responses on regulation, outcomes, democratic legitimacy and commissioning, and the original response ...
Patient choice, particularly the choice of hospital, has been at the heart of health policy for a number of years. The aim of this policy is to create competition, which in turn drives improvements in quality; for this to work effectively, patients have to make their choices on the basis ...
The policy of offering patients a choice in where they receive hospital treatment was intended to create competition between providers, encouraging efficiency and responsiveness to patients’ preferences and ultimately to drive up the quality of care. So has the policy met those aims? Since January 2006, patients requiring a referral ...