Establishing which factors patients value when selecting urology outpatient care

Summary 

Objective

The launch of Choose and Book has enabled patients to choose from at least four providers of healthcare to reduce long waiting times for elective surgery. We aimed to investigate what factors patients consider when deciding on their choice of hospital and to establish what weight patients placed on each of these factors when making their choice.

Patients and methods

Patients attending general urology outpatient clinics during a 3-month period were invited to complete a questionnaire grading these factors in level of importance to them.

Results

Hospital cleanliness was the most important factor when choosing a hospital, followed by hospital reputation.

Conclusions

Cleanliness and hygiene standards within a hospital are increasingly important to patients with the rise in hospital acquired infections, heightened by a high level of media interest in hospital hygiene. The behaviour of patients in choosing where and when and by whom they want their health care will clearly have an impact on waiting times, although the true impact of this is as yet difficult to establish. With respect to urology, this may affect the choice of hospital as well as the treating urology consultant. For patients to make these choices they will need more information about their options and General Practitioners will need to provide appropriate guidance.

Keywords: Choose and Book, Patient choice, Outpatient care, Urology