‘Much to do’ if choice is to be a reality in the NHS
The Government has much still to do if patient choice targets within the NHS are to be met.
That is the conclusion of a new report from the National Audit Office which also warns that the majority of GPs have doubts about the new system. Their confidence must be won and their participation engaged if choice is to work, it concluded.
By December 2005 the Government is hoping that each NHS patient referred by their GP for non-emergency hospital treatment will be offered a choice of four or five healthcare providers – both NHS and independent.
The NAO concludes that the Department of Health has made progress towards the target, by establishing organisational infrastructure and commissioning new IT systems. But, it warns that there are “significant risks” to be managed and that “choice cannot be delivered without support from GPs”.
It warns that a recent survey for the NAO found that 60 per cent of GPs were negative about the new system. The Government had deliberately held back the main efforts to inform GPs in anticipation of the new ‘choose and book’ IT systems. But, with only 60 to 70 per cent of the NHS due to have the system in 2005, it calls on the department to mount a campaign this year.
Speaking today, head of the NAO Sir John Bourn, said: “Enabling patients who are referred by their GPs for hospital treatment to choose where they want to be treated promises to bring benefits to the patients themselves and to the wider NHS. Providing such choice will not be simple, however.
“The Department of Health must take urgent and effective action to inform and engage with GPs about the new arrangements. GPs’ support may be hard to secure and indeed choice will be hard to deliver successfully by the end of 2005 if the electronic booking system is not largely up and running by then.”
Health Minister John Hutton said he was pleased the report confirmed that “providing greater choice over hospital treatment will deliver very real benefits to patients.”
He added: “We have implemented the choice IT programme in stages. First we procured the equipment, second we made sure it worked, now the challenge is to roll out the service across the NHS. That is why since the Autumn, as planned, we have intensified our efforts to engage with GPs. More than 2,500 GPs have already been involved in developing systems to support choice and booking, and this engagement will increase during this important next stage of implementation.”
The chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee said the Government must do more to address GPs’ concerns about the new ‘choose and book’ system.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, said: “GPs feel they are working in an information desert and will need much more detail and experience of what is involved before they can be convinced of the benefits.
“The IT system is still being developed and GPs are awaiting information on how the new arrangements will affect their consultations with patients.”
He added that GPs also needed satisfying that the new system would properly protect patient confidentiality.
