Patients see shorter waiting times – but dirtier hospitals
Hospital patients believe that waiting times are getting shorter but they are less than convinced by the cleanliness of the hospitals, according to the Healthcare Commission.
The hospital watchdog surveyed 140,000 patients using A&E departments or outpatient clinics in one of the biggest ever surveys of NHS patients’ perception.
It found that 77 per cent of patients reported staying in the emergency department less than four hours, compared to 69 per cent in 2003. Outpatients also said their waiting times had improved, with 80 per cent saying they got an appointment within three months, five per cent up on the previous year.
The Government’s own figures suggest that over 95 per cent of A&E patients are treated within four hours, but both the Government and the Healthcare Commission stress that the figures are not directly comparable.
But worryingly for the Government, only 45 per cent rated the emergency department as ‘very clean’, four per cent down on 2003. Fifty-three per cent of outpatients rated their department as ‘very clean’, six per cent down from 2003.
Of concern to the health watchdog are the 20 per cent of outpatients who felt they were not getting enough information to be involved in their care and the 51 per cent of A&E patients who said they were not given information about the side effects of new medications.
The surveys’ results will feed into the inspection process.
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: “This survey is very encouraging, and it is particularly good to see patients are beginning to experience a reduction in waiting times. People who are sceptical of the NHS should take note of what patients are actually saying, as it is clear how much they value the services on offer.”
But the Conservatives seized on the suggestion that patients are increasingly worried about cleanliness.
Andrew Lansley, Shadow Health Secretary, said: “Mr Blair’s Government has not made cleaner hospitals a priority. 5,000 die every year from hospital acquired infections, more than on Britain’s roads. Standards are deteriorating because of red tape and targets enforced centrally by Whitehall.”
The Tories have said they would give matrons more control of cleanliness and the power to close hospital wards infected with MRSA.
