Healthcare Professionals - Patient Choice

Thursday 28th August 2008

We understand that it is vital to work collaboratively with healthcare professionals to deliver clinical excellence and the best patient experience possible.

We hope you find this site informative and useful. If you have any feedback about how we can improve the services we provide you, please contact us.

To find your nearest Nuffield hospital, select a region on the map or search by postcode

View all hospitals

Patient Choice

Patient Choice is a Department of Health policy to expand patient's opportunity to choose and participate in their overall care pathway. It includes a number of milestones for the introduction of Choice initiatives, including:

From August 2004, patients waiting over a certain period for elective surgery will be offered faster treatment at an alternative provider
From January 2005, patients requiring cataract surgery are offered a choice of selected hospitals at the time of referral
From April 2005, patients requiring heart surgery are offered a choice of selected hospitals at the time of referral
By December 2005, the Choose and Book system will allow patients who require an elective referral, the choice of 4-5 hospitals and the opportunity to choose the time, date and place for the treatment. The selection of providers may comprise of different NHS trusts, diagnosis and treatment centres, specialists and independent hospitals, such as Nuffield Hospitals.

Nuffield Hospitals have been involved in many local contracts with individual local hospitals and PCTs to ensure patients are offered a choice of alternative providers to have their treatment undertaken sooner.

This process is usually facilitated by local PCTs, therefore the referral process, specialities available and choice available may vary locally.

To find out more about Patient Choice go to the Department of Health website www.dh.gov.uk

Patient Choice sub-navigation: