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 ...
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 ...