Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The National Surveys of NHS Patients programme comprises a series of surveys designed to contribute to monitoring the performance of the NHS as seen from the patient's perspective. The Government committed itself to this programme in 1997, in The New NHS - modern dependable White Paper, which proposed the introduction of annual surveys of patients and users to allow systematic comparisons of experiences over time and between different parts of the country. The first survey, covering general practice patients, was carried out in 1998. The second survey, covering Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) patients, took place in 1999. The third survey, covering Cancer patients, took place in 2000. The fourth survey, covering General Practice, took place in 2002. Further information about the series may be found on the Department of Health National Surveys of NHS Patients web page.
The survey of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) patients was the second in the National Surveys of NHS Patients series, and was designed to assess the quality of NHS patient care as seen by hospital in-patients and day patients diagnosed with CHD. The aim was to provide data which could be used to inform performance management by highlighting areas in need of improvement. The survey was also designed to give reliable results at Health Trust level so that individual Trusts could use the data to improve performance and so that comparisons could be made between Trusts, as well as providing a detailed national picture and the possibility of measuring future trends.
Main Topics:
The dataset addresses a number of issues relevant to all types of patients and some relevant only to patients with CHD. The main issues covered were access to care, physical comfort, the hospital environment, information and communication, patient involvement, co-ordination and continuity of care, discharge and transition. Question coverage was as follows: access to care: whether the patient had a planned or emergency admission, length of time on the waiting list and whether health deteriorated or the patient was in pain whilst on the waiting list. Information was also gathered on length of time elapsed on arrival at hospital before the patient was assessed and given a bed. Physical comfort: pain suffered during the hospital stay, how pain was managed, and whether staff assisted the patient promptly. Hospital environment: quality of food, cleanliness of toilets, whether toilets and wards were shared with members of the opposite sex, and whether there was enough privacy during discussions and examinations. Information and communication: clarity and sensitivity of doctors' and nurses' explanations, patient access to medical records and confidence in doctors and nurses. Co-ordination and continuity: whether tests took place at the right time, patients' perceptions of doctors' and nurses' knowledge, whether patient information was asked too often and whether the patient had a named doctor in charge of care. Discharge and transition: length of hospital stay, explanation of recovery and resumption of activities, need for any further health or nursing services, whether GP was kept informed. Heart disease and specific operations and procedures: whether hospital staff explained benefits, risks and results of operations and procedures in a way that was easy to understand and whether alternatives were clearly explained. The dataset also includes sample information provided by participating Trusts (e.g. date of discharge, diagnosis code); derived variables (e.g. activity status, social class, age, ethnic group); health authority and region; weighting variable. Standard Measures Questions were included to allow coding of Registrar General's Social Class.
All Trusts in England where there were projected to be 200+ patients in the appropriate diagnosis c
Postal survey
