Can UK patients have a choice of Hospital?

[Alastair]

From December 2005, patients who may need an operation will be offered a choice of 4-5 hospitals (or other appropriate providers) in the GP surgery, at the point of referral to hospital.

� As part of the consultation on choice, responsiveness and equity the Department of Health commissioned MORI to conduct a consultation exercise with members of the public. 2,401 responses were received from members of the public as well as NHS staff. The responses of some NHS staff members related to their personal experiences of receiving NHS services.

� The questionnaire was available to the public from 14 October to 11 November online and paper versions of the survey were accepted until 17 November 2003 to allow people time to mail their questionnaires.

� A consultation does not provide a representative view of the national population. Instead, a consultation invites the entire public (and in this case, health professionals as well) to participate and anyone choosing to do so was therefore included in the analysis. As with any type of self-selection methodology, those holding strong positive or negative views and/or those who feel most affected by the topic are most likely to participate. To this end, it is important to interpret the findings with these potential biases in mind.

� The questionnaire also contained several qualitative questions. It is important to remember that the views expressed do not always represent the views of the group as a whole.

� All of the documents published today are available at www.dh.gov.uk