An opinion poll commissioned by ‘think tank’ Policy Exchange has found that almost 80% of patients would like more information on how their NHS hospital performs available on the internet.
The poll of 1000 patients found that almost a third of people do not know how to find data about how their local NHS services are performing, and a further 59% believe that information currently provided is ‘very patchy.’
Asked, if they wanted more information, 79% said they would like to see a ‘scorecard’ outlining their local surgery or hospital’s performance available online.
Policy Exchange’s research director, Gavin Lockhart, told E-Health Insider: “Knowledge is power and conventional wisdom that only the middle classes are interested in information about the quality of their local doctor and local hospital is called into question by this research. In fact, lower-income groups – those with the least power- show the strongest demand.”
Patients were not as concerned about comparing local NHS services, but 57% wanted to be able to compare their healthcare providers to national standards.
Of those surveyed, 38% said they would use it to challenge or seek reassurance from their doctor, whilst only a minority (around 16%) would use it to choose or change their provider.
Lockhart added: “Rather than use the information to choose or switch providers, patients predominantly want information to choose or switch providers, patients predominantly want information as reassurance that they are receiving high-quality care. If public services are to be improved by choice, as the government hopes, the publication of performance data will be insufficient to encourage patients to become active consumers.”
The poll was commissioned by the NHS Confederation ahead of the launch of the NHS Choices website later this month.
NHS Confederation’s head of policy, Nigel Edwards, said: “These findings show that the public are very interested in the performance of their health service. There is a major challenge to be meaningful; assessments of services need to take into account many different factors. This makes presenting the easy-to-understand and manageable information the public prefer very difficult. We have to learn about the best way of doing this.”
Age Concern said that the results of the survey showed that the views and attitudes of older people must be considered.
Director general, Gordon Lishman, said: “The results of this survey provide care providers and commissioners with a clear call to action: they need to ensure they give genuine thought to providing information for older people, as they are much more information savvy than they are often given credit for.”
A spokesman for Patient Concern told EHI: “We need good access to easy-to-understand information and we are not getting that at the moment.”
The Department of Health said: “Genuinely empowering people to exercise choice is essential to creating an even better, more responsive NHS.”