Easy Guide on Choosing the Right NHS Hospital

Article Written By: KatieWebb

Once you've been diagnosed with a condition that requires hospital treatment and referred to a specialist, you will then be able to research the NHS Hospitals that can match your needs and preferences. The following guide explains the scope of your choices and the procedure involved in getting booking in. Part of the NHS Improvement Plan in development over the past few years is their commitment to giving patients the reasonable decision as to where and when they can be treated.

Another priority is to provide patients with more information to help them make the right choices about their treatment. There are approximately nine million referrals for non-emergency hospital treatment made within the NHS every year. When you and your GP agree that you need to see a specialist, you will be able to choose from a list of hospitals or clinics and make a booking using the NHS Choose and Book scheme - this is a national electronic service that allows you to select the place, date and time for your first outpatient appointments.

The Choose and Book Scheme applies to hospital providers - currently in England only - who offer a suitable treatment for specialist care that meets NHS standards and costs. To date, approximately 58% of GP referrals to hospitals and clinics are managed through this system.

The three categories of hospital provider you can choose from are NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS Acute Trusts as well as Independent Sector Providers and their hospitals.

In effect, you have the choice of making your booking through your GP, over the phone or using the internet. Often, your GP will use the Choose and Book system to identify your options for hospitals or clinics that provide the specialist treatment you need. Once you both settle on the most suitable one, your GP will then go ahead and generate an electronic appointment request (URBN) plus a unique password for you.

If you prefer to spend more time weighing your decision, your GP will provide you with information about the appropriate choices available to you so that you can book your appointment at a later time.

Apart from that, there is another avenue to help you make the right decision. NHS trusts and organisations that provide NHS funded health care are also legally permitted to promote their services direct by advertising information such as waiting times, surgical outcomes, and rates of hospital-acquired infection.

A Code of Practice was published by the Department of Health to clarify the rules governing the advertising of NHS-funded services to patients so that patients are ensured they don't receive misleading information.

Your options for suitable specialised care through NHS Hospitals is now easier than ever before to access and understand. The most important factor once you and your GP have decided that this is the best way forward to resolve your condition is to carry out thorough research in terms of such crucial factors as success rates for your specific treatment at the different facilities and a convenient location.

About the Author

Angela Cilano is a medical researcher and consultant on NHS Hospitals.

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