The next version of Choose and Book software will list all available hospitals, regardless of whether they are public or private, based on how far away from the patient they are.
The changes are intended to increase patient awareness of private hospital appointments open to them.
From April the updated Choose and Book software will list all available appointments a patient can choose from. Currently, primary care trusts can decide which hospitals or appointments appear on the frontpage of the Choose and Book screen.
According to a report in the FT, private healthcare groups have complained that their local hospital services are often not prominantly listed by PCTs. Instead, patients and GPs are said to have to go through screens and screens of appointment options to find private providers.
‘Patient Choice’ remains a cornerstone of government health policy, though its promotion has been muted since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, and its take up has been limited. While £200m was budgeted for private hospital appointments this year, the actual take-up has been far lower.
Figures from the DH quoted by the FT indicate that by three-quarters of the way through 2007 less than 5,000 patients had used Choose and Book to select private hospital care. This makes up less than 5% of patients against an original expectation of 15%.
Patient Choice is meant to be dramataically expanded from this April, when patients will be able to choose to go to any private hospital that agrees to treat patients at NHS tariff prices.
The changes to Choose and Book software, together with measures to stop PCTs muddying patients ‘right’ to accredited private care, paid for by the NHS, were set out by Chan Wheeler, commercial director of the Department of Health.
Wheeler told the FT that as a result of the software changes in Choose and Book from April there would be a “non-discriminatory view of choice”, with patients able to see what is available, both public and private.