By Dan Ilett, 14 November 2006 12:00
NEWS
The government is to pilot a scheme on public library computers to give people more information about which hospitals they choose for healthcare.
Since 1 January this year, NHS patients have had the right to choose from a list of at least four providers when referred for treatment by their GP. In May, that choice was extended nationally.
Information in NHS Choice booklets - which detail what healthcare is available where - will be made available on library systems in a bid to give patients more control over where they receive treatment.
According to the Department of Health (DoH), under the Partnership for Patients project GPs will be able to direct patients to their local library for hospital appointments if they need more time to choose where to go.
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The project will be piloted in 27 libraries in Derbyshire, Gloucestershire and seven London boroughs. There are 3,041 public libraries in England that are visited 274 million times per year, employ 21,690 staff and have a budget of £1.13bn.
At the library, patients will be able to book an appointment through the 'Choose and Book' system over the internet, officials said.
As part of the scheme librarians will be trained to support patients who want to use the service. Plasma screens, banner adverts and poster publicity are also to be used to provide more healthcare information to people.
According to the DoH, a "national menu" of health services will be available to patients. Information would include hospital waiting times, the number of cancelled operations, MRSA rates and patient experience ratings conducted by the healthcare commission.
Lord Warner said giving patients flexibility to choose was essential to create a more responsive NHS.
Comments
There are 2 comments. Join the discussion
1. Richard
What about rating from real users?
>> "...patient experience ratings conducted by the healthcare commission..."<<
When buying a book or holiday, I read the comments of previous users. These are much more relevant to me than any comments by paid reviewers.
Why not publish views of real patients, rather than just yet more dodgy "official" ratings?
Is choice of a hospital, doctor or dentist less important than choice of a book from Amazon?
If patients are to make informed choices, they need proper information, properly presented.
NHS "Choose & Book" gives very poor information about practical matters such as transport. A recent survey confirmed that patients are very concerned about transport to their hospital.
At present, "Choose & Book" links to the dreadful "Transport Direct" which too often provides useless, wrong information.
It would be far better, for example, to display all options superimposed on a Google map with "information bubbles" & the facility to "drill down" for further information.
2. Alastair Warren
And this from the lot that want us to cut down on car use?
How many ppl will die on the roads getting to the ID Card Centre for their photo and biometrics to be taken?
FFS.