Dear Lord Darzi,
You are saying that the experiences of patients will affect the funding of NHS Trusts, does this include the experiences of the patient who has to wait four hours in A&E before being told that they don't deal with verrucas there? Will it include the patients who turn waiting rooms into boxing rings, or who call ambulances for a cheap taxi ride home?
If I go to a patient and they want me to carry them downstairs for their cut finger, putting my spine at risk - will I have to do it in order to keep the 'patient satisfaction' high?
And if we don't do this, either due to good sense, or because we have already stretched our current resources to the limit, then you will cut our money.
What about those patients who don't like their GP because their GP isn't 'English'?
Such people exist, and in greater numbers than you might expect. But then the view is a bit limited from that ivory tower of yours.
It is really quite simple - the expectations of the public are rising faster and higher than can be reasonably met. They want everything and they want it now, but are not willing to pay for it. They do not understand that there is rationing in the NHS, but then the government has been unwilling to mention this.
And why stop at 'dashboards' inside hospitals showing their 'quality', why not have a scrolling marquee around the outside of the hospital, it would be just as tacky.
Giving patients choice is a fine idea in principle, but for many of the patients that I deal with they just don't have the knowledge to make an informed choice on their treatment.
-Tom Reynolds
Just another ambulance man.
UPDATE: I'm not the only person to think this way.
