Charity urges people to be proactive in their own health care

Choice is the new buzz word in health. And with the Health and Social Care Bill aiming to give patients wider access to the services they want, choice will become increasingly important. However, new research from the charity Nuffield Health reveals that many people are choosing their hospital based on location rather than the quality of care they will receive there.

Nuffield Health’s research found that, despite the NHS’ ambitions to open up choice in hospital usage, location (45%) was the key influencer on which hospitals people visited. In fact, worryingly, 58% of people admitted they do not research the quality of a hospital before they visit. Women (48%) are more likely to research than men (34%).

This is despite the fact that:

• 77% of people interviewed had concerns about picking up infections in hospital
• 69% of people fear poor hygiene in hospital
• Infection control was the area in which people most wanted to see hospital staff receiving extra training (79%)
• Top of the list for what people wanted to see in a hospital was cleanliness (63%).

When it comes to treatment options the research found people were keen to be involved in the decision making process. 78% of people want to make the decisions about their health jointly with their doctor and only 13% of people are willing to leave all decisions to their doctor. However the research also showed a large group of people were leaving the decision on where they will be treated entirely to their doctor – failing to do their own research on the very things they have identified as being important such as infection rates, matron led care and cleanliness.

As a result Nuffield Health is urging people to actively research the infection levels of their hospital before visiting.

The research was published alongside Nuffield Health’s 2010 Quality Report. This report is unique in the health sector ensuring full transparency of levels of infection, governance, standards and customer feedback on services. The report highlighted that the group’s 31 hospitals were entirely free of hospital-acquired MRSA bacteraemia and associated infections.

Dr Andrew Jones, Medical Director of Nuffield Heath said of the report: “We know that hygiene and the risk of infection is of huge concern to people when they come into hospital, yet despite this, they do not seem to be researching these issues before they go in for a procedure. At Nuffield Health, we are rightly proud of our zero percent MRSA infection rate which offers our patients huge reassurance. However, we would urge all people who are considering medical procedures to research potential hospitals as much as possible to ensure peace of mind ahead of a procedure.”

The report – in its fourth year – provides scrutiny for the charity but also encourages the staff to continually provide a high quality of service. It highlights where the charity’s money has been spent on investment, increasing access to services and on developing new innovations. It also allows patients to investigate infection levels, numbers of hospital procedures carried out, any serious incidents and hospital policies.

www.nuffieldhealth.com