Patient perceptions of costs in the NHS: an evaluation.

Autor: Nijamudeen AM; Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Chester Wing, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Kayll Road, Sunderland, SR4 7TP. Electronic address: Aysha.Nijamudeen@mft.nhs.uk., Banks RJ; Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Chester Wing, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Kayll Road, Sunderland, SR4 7TP. Electronic address: Robert.Banks@chsft.nhs.uk.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The British journal of oral & maxillofacial surgery [Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg] 2021 Dec; Vol. 59 (10), pp. 1200-1203. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Mar 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2021.02.018
Abstrakt: The cost of the NHS, wastage within it and how much trusts have overspent is a national obsession. Despite these widespread opinions, the costs of individual treatments and impacts of non-attendance appear to be little understood. There is a paucity of literature with regards to patients' awareness of costs associated with services provided by the NHS. The authors aim to ascertain whether patients are aware of the costs associated with care services provided, and if these data could aid educating patients on NHS costs to reduce missed appointments. A questionnaire was randomly distributed to new and review patients in our Oral and Maxillofacial outpatient and emergency departments from November-December 2017 asking them to estimate the cost of common services they may encounter, such as an outpatient appointment, an orthopantomogram (OPT), a CT head, and a full blood count test (FBC). The results demonstrate that 81% of patients surveyed underestimated the cost of their new patient appointment, with 34% underestimating the cost of their review appointment. The cost of an overnight stay in hospital was underestimated by 65% of patients, with 89% of patients underestimating the cost of an hours's operating. The costs of a full blood count, an OPT and a CT head have been mostly overestimated by 89%, 77%, and 54% of patients respectively. The results show there is a wide variation in patients' estimates of costs, with over 50% of patients overestimating the costs of investigations but underestimating the cost of their appointment/A&E attendance.
(Copyright © 2021 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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