The Patients Association: Patient experience before the omicron wave: the storm before the storm (27 January 2022)

Summary

This report by The Patients Association is based on information gathered from more than 1,000 patients in a survey carried out in December 2021, just before the omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK. The results of the survey highlight that patients found it hard to access care during this period, with pressures affecting the NHS compromising their care. They also show that the worst affected patients were those whose illness or care needs seriously affect their day-to-day lives.

Content

The report concludes that the pressures affecting the NHS are profound and long term, with patient needs not being met well, or in some cases at all. It makes the following recommendations, based on its findings:

• The NHS must recognise the extent of patient difficulties, understand them, and make a concerted effort to find out patients’ concerns.
• The NHS must reconnect with patients as we come out of the pandemic and work in partnership with them to rebuild the relationship and, together, redesign services.
• Health leaders must remove barriers in the health system that stand in the way of health professionals and patients working in a shared way. Leaders should champion a culture change that fosters patient partnership and shared decision making, as well as leading by example. 
• The NHS must put in place arrangements to communicate with patients about their wait, how to keep healthy and well, and where they can get support while they wait. All NHS organisations should be using the communications guidelines developed last May on how to keep patients up to date with what is happening with their care.
• If the NHS expects people to use NHS 111, then it must look into the variation in standards of service exposed by the survey and take steps to remedy the problems.
• A post-pandemic recovery plan is needed that covers all aspects of healthcare and includes community and social care. Such a plan must also include a long-term workforce strategy to ensure we have enough doctors and nurses to deliver the additional care needed to address the backlog of patients waiting for treatment.

Further reading

Blog - Communication is key to building patient trust in ‘the system’