Local A&E Departments Are Not Being Promoted

The government have revealed in a "friends and family" test that only 63% of people who visited A&E units last month would promote the service.

David Cameron launched the survey to try and encourage underperforming services. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told BBC Radio 5 Live: "You can't make sure the NHS is there for everybody at very high standards unless we are open".

When patients are discharged they were asked the following question, 'How likely are you to recommend our ward/A&E department to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?

There was six options to choose from on a scale, such as answering with 'extremely unlikely', 'unlikely' or 'unsure', and the opportunity to explain the answer after.

Results were analysed rapidly to see if any action was required, the scores of which were published on the NHS website.

Figures released from the survey showed that one emergency department in London, and 36 of the 4,500 wards surveyed, received more negative scores than positive ones.

Although the survey included 400,000 responses, critics are saying this is an unreliable survey. This is due to a low rate of feedback at some hospitals and the idea that hospitals could not be accurately compared against one another.

Katherine Murphy, Chief Executive of the Patients Association think it's confusing, saying, "We are not sure how this is going to help patients make choices."

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