§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many responses to the NHS census he received from people living in the Buckingham constituency. [24860]
§ Ms BlearsThere has been no national health service census. The acute trust patient survey is currently scheduled to take place between January and March 2002. The survey will be part of a programme that the Government are putting in place throughout England. Hospital trusts will carry out a specially designed patient survey programme to seek views on the patient experience.
Improving the experience of the individual patient is central to the NHS Plan. By finding out more, in this systematic manner, we will increase our knowledge of what patients need and expect from the NHS and how well the service responds to their needs and expectations.