Healthcare key to voting preferences
pharmafile | April 15, 2010 | News story | | NHS, election
Healthcare is a key factor when deciding which political candidate to support for more than half of UK voters, according to a new survey.
Business advisory firm Deloitte questioned 1,000 adults and 61% said improving the quality of care provided by doctors and hospitals as ‘highly important’ when it came to deciding which way to vote.
Deloitte conducted the same survey in five other countries including: France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the US.
Questions spanned six ‘zones’ of consumerism: wellness and healthy living; traditional health services; alternative health services; information resources; health insurance; and health policy.
Some 30% of UK consumers viewed their healthcare system as either ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, below the 55% in Switzerland and France but ahead of the 21% in the US and 17% in Germany.
The survey also revealed mixed feelings amongst the British public about the NHS. Only 2% of participants rate the overall performance of the UK’s healthcare system as ‘excellent’ and 28% as ‘very good’. Fifty percent responded the system was ‘average’ while 20% rate it as failing.
In addition, 35% believe understanding which health professionals deliver the best care for their specific condition is paramount to improving the UK’s healthcare system.
Dean Arnold, head of Deloitte’s global health care practice, believes that consumer behaviour will have a significant impact on the future of the NHS.
Arnold said: “Currently, people tend to be happy with their local hospital, but not necessarily with the NHS as a whole. It would appear that consumers are able to de-personalise the NHS from the professionals they interact with. But the public will become more challenging and more demanding in the future as the possibility of choice becomes increasingly apparent.
“Individuals should be asking themselves – ‘how good is my surgeon?’ ‘What are the hospital’s readmission rates?’ ‘Where can I receive better treatment?’ Location will no longer be the primary basis upon which to decide where to receive care and treatment, quality and outcomes will become the gold standard.”
Arnold added: “A more informed and empowered public will in turn help make the NHS more effective and more efficient.”
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