18 Week Patient Experience Survey NHS West Midlands
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This section looks at patients’ expectations of how long they thought they would have to wait to receive treatment when they were first referred, along with their satisfaction with how long they actually had to wait. It also explores the causes for delays in treatment among patients. Summary A majority of patients in each PCT were concerned about how long they would have to wait to receive treatment when they were first told they needed to see a specialist (54% across the region as a whole). Having said this, a sizeable minority across the region as a whole were not at all concerned (40%). In addition, many patients were happy with the length of time they actually waited for treatment (77% in the West Midlands for those answering who had started treatment). Among those who said they experienced some kind of delay in receiving treatment, the most common reasons given across the West Midlands as a whole were waiting for an appointment to see their hospital specialist for the first time (26%), the length of time between the GP referring them and contact from the hospital (19%) and the wait for an operation (15%).
Expectations of wait for treatment Patients’ concerns about how long they would have to wait to receive treatment when they were first told they needed to see a specialist do not necessarily reflect the progress made in reducing waits in recent years. A majority in each PCT were at least a little concerned (54% across the West Midlands as a whole). Having said this, across the region as a whole, two in five were not at all concerned (40%). Levels of concern did not vary greatly across PCT, although patients in the Heart of Birmingham and North Staffordshire PCTs were more concerned, while patients in South Birmingham PCT were less so.
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