Time to choose: How patients exercising their right to choose can help clear the NHS elective backlog (22 July 2022)

Summary

Patient choice has been a feature of the NHS in England for the last two decades, but patients' knowledge about what choices they have in accessing their NHS healthcare is variable. This report by the Patients Association and the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) looks at the role patient choice can play in tackling the elective care backlog.

The report found that:

• there are significant variations in waiting times across the country.
• patients do not need to travel long distances to access care more quickly. On average, a patient would need to travel just 13.2 miles to go from one of the worst performing providers to one of the top performers.
• the potential for reducing waiting times by accessing care through an alternative provider was backed up by both polling and focus group work, which found the public is enthusiastic about patient choice.
• people's awareness of their rights around where they receive their NHS treatment is low, suggesting the Government and NHS England need to do more to promote choice and make it easier for patients to understand the options available to them.

Content

The report covers:

• the history of patient choice in the NHS and what rights patients currently have.
• the role of patient choice and how it can enable patients to access faster care.
• the public’s view of patient choice and the support patients need to make informed choices.
• current policies in place to facilitate patient choice.
• the potential gains available from the wider exercise of patient choice, in terms of current levels of variation in waiting times, and travel distances to independent sector facilities.
• recommendations for the NHS on how to improve awareness of choice and support people to exercise their rights.