NHS England announces new patient experience standards
Hospitals in England have been instructed to give patients at least three weeks' notice before their hospital appointments, including operations, diagnostic tests, or consultations with consultants. The new standards, announced by NHS England chief executive Jim Mackey on Friday, are inspired by the customer service practices of online retailers such as Amazon and John Lewis.
The move aims to address the widespread problem of patients receiving appointment notifications after the scheduled date has passed, which Mackey described as "clearly unacceptable." The NHS England plan seeks to improve patient experience and end the "farce" of late invitations.
Background and research findings
The announcement follows pressure from patient organizations for the NHS to keep individuals updated about their care, as uncertainty can cause anxiety. Research by the King's Fund found that almost one in four patients were notified about their appointment after it was meant to have occurred. Separate findings from the health thinktank revealed widespread frustration among patients who felt "left in the dark" about their care after joining the waiting list.
Currently, about 6 million people in England are waiting for approximately 7 million tests, operations, and appointments.
Details of the new standards
The eight new "patient experience standards" require England's 205 NHS trusts to start delivering "five-star customer service." They are designed to tackle the lack of information patients receive while waiting for care, including notification that their GP referral has been accepted. Hospitals must overhaul their communication methods and implement the standards as soon as possible.
In future, patients will be informed through the NHS app when a hospital specialist has accepted the referral from their GP and receive confirmation they are on the waiting list. At least 40 million people have already installed the NHS app. Those who prefer communication by letter or text message will receive updates via those channels.
Quote from Jim Mackey
Mackey said: "Almost everyone has a story in their family about how navigating the NHS has been like walking through treacle, including cases where patients aren't even sure if they've been referred, which is clearly unacceptable. If we want to keep improving patients' experiences and satisfaction with the NHS we have to fix the basics – and that starts with how we treat people even before they arrive for treatment. Our communication with patients needs to be clear and easy to understand. We have to get away from making patients ask us multiple times to get the information they need and start delivering five-star customer service."
Reaction from patient organizations
William Pett, interim director of policy and external affairs at Healthwatch England, a patient champion body, said the standards were "a clear signal from NHS leaders that high-quality customer service matters as much to patients as the length of their wait." He added: "For too long, patients have told us about referral letters going missing, delayed appointment letters or feeling forgotten about altogether for months on end without news of when they will be seen. Needing medical care is stressful enough and through all the work to join up our data and invest in digital technology we are building a modern NHS fit for the future and able to make life much easier for patients to access the care they need. These standards are by no means revolutionary. They are simple and clear standards that should be the bare minimum the public can expect from our services. Together we have to make sure that patient experience is always at the very centre of our decision-making and service planning."
Impact on public satisfaction
Mackey hopes that treating patients more like customers will help improve public satisfaction with the NHS, which last year increased from 21% to 26% – its first rise in seven years.
