NHS progress is mixed, patient reports show

Home > HP (current issue) > News and research update / News Centre | Search

Hospital Pharmacist
2007;14:282
October 2007

NHS progress is mixed, patient reports show

Over the past five years the NHS has improved significantly in some areas, including reducing waiting times, but there are mixed results in other areas such as hospital hygiene, according to a new report from the Picker Institute (PDF 600K).

“Is the NHS becoming more patient-centred?” describes trends from 26 surveys of NHS patients in England undertaken in 2002–07. The report says that in 2006, fewer patients leaving hospital felt that they had been told “completely” about the purpose of their medicine than in 2002 (Hospital Pharmacist 2007;14:181).

However, mental health trusts reported an improving trend, with 65 per cent of patients saying they had been told “completely” about their medicines in 2007, compared with 63 per cent in 2005. Patients also report that health professionals are not giving them sufficient information about the potential side effects of their medicines.

The report states: “Despite pockets of excellent practice the service as a whole is still far from patient-centred. The most significant problem is the failure of clinical staff to provide active support for patient engagement.”

Also published last month is the Health Foundation’s report “Patient and public experience of the NHS”, highlighting areas in which patient expectation has been met, and areas that need improving. The report includes data from the Commonwealth Fund for 2005 showing that 26 per cent of patients had not had a thorough medicines review in the previous two years.