‘Choose and Book’: are patients ill informed?

Abstract

‘Choose and Book’ (CaB), part of the government's National Programme for IT, was rolled out in the NHS in 2006. It aims to empower patients by offering them unrestricted referral to health service providers. Patient choice has been a key element in successive governments; yet little research exists into what motivates patient choice. This audit looked at referral pathways over a four-week period in 2010 to establish how patients had been referred; and if referred via CaB, what factors motivated their choice. Only 50% of patients were referred via CaB. Of those given a choice of providers, 46% chose the closest hospital and 18% chose the shortest waiting time. The results show that the patient makes choices based on everyday practicalities rather than quality of healthcare provider as they are potentially ill informed and disempowered to decide on the basis of any other factors.