§ Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the full report of the survey of consumer attitudes to the National Health Service in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythYes. The report of survey findings is published today, and copies are available in the House of Commons Library. This report, by Research Surveys of Great Britain Ltd., contains more comprehensive and detailed results than were published in the summary report on 7 March 1989.
The report shows that the Health Service is generally highly regarded by its patients and by the public at large and that patients have a particularly high regard for the medical and nursing care which they receive.
The report identifies a number of areas where improvements were wanted and of these the most frequently mentioned were reduced waiting time—for admission and treatment, hospital food, transport arrangements, reluctance of doctors to make home visits and information from health personnel about the patient's condition.
Two interesting consumer views were (a) that many of the services which required attendance at hospital out-patients departments could be more conveniently provided at local health clinics and (b) that three in 10 hospital in-patients would be willing to travel to a hospital further away (one in six over 50 miles) if this would reduce the waiting time for admission.
By obtaining the views of recent patients and other members of the public the Government is seeking to take full account of consumer views when considering future Health Service priorities. The report of the survey will be sent to all health board general managers and the main messages contained in it will be discussed with them in order to secure action in response to the expressed views of consumers.