GENERAL STUDIES ESSAYS – NHS

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The National Health Service has faced various attempts at reform since the 1980s.  These reforms have had differing objectives, such as improving efficiency, providing patients with greater choice as to the medical treatment they receive, or reducing the waiting lists for treatment.  Some reforms have been motivated by practical concerns such as treating the greatest number of patients whilst other reforms have been politically motivated such as introducing an internal market.  Traditionally the National Health Service was provider orientated rather than consumer or patient orientated in the way in which its services were provided.  Patients were provided with the treatments to cure their illnesses and improve their health without any regard to whether or not they are satisfied with the level of service they have received.  As will be discussed the National Health Service is probably the part of the public sector in Britain that has caused the most political controversy, the constant search to keep it working effectively without becoming prohibitively expensive.  Governments and the opposition like to show that either the National Health Service is performing well or that it is performing badly.  They have often been more interested in political points scoring rather than patient satisfaction.  Patient satisfaction was never considered to be of paramount importance within the senior management of the National Health Service or the politicians, even though millions of patients received treatment or benefited from its services every year.  A brief background of the way in which data was collected prior to the use of patient satisfaction questionnaire as well an explanation of the theoretical, ideological, practical and political changes that have impacted upon the National Health Service delivery of services since the 1980s are useful points of reference.  New Labour has also sought to reform the public sector including the National Health Service since 1997.  The patient satisfaction questionnaires can be regarded as an essential part of New Labour attempts to bring good governance to the National Health Service.