Patients who experience NHS admin issues – such as chasing test results or not being updated on waiting times – are less likely to seek care in the future, new research has found.
It comes as a survey found one in five people who used the health service last year received a letter for an appointment after the date it was supposed to take place.
A report by The King’s Fund, Healthwatch England and National Voices said the “day-to-day dysfunction in how the NHS communicates” with patients is having a negative impact on people’s experience of the health service and “driving perceptions of an organisation that is wasting money, time and staff”.
The research included a poll of 1,888 adults in England.
Of those who said they had used the NHS in the previous 12 months, more than 64% reported an issue with communication.
Almost a third (32%) said they had to chase results following a test, scan or X-ray, while the same proportion were not kept updated on how long they would have to wait for treatment.
Nearly a quarter (23%) said they did not know who to contact while waiting for care.
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Experts said these errors are “frustrating” and can impact patient safety.
Of the people who did experience an admin issue, 42% of them said they would be less likely to seek care in the future.
Reacting to the report, Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, vice-chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said admin errors add to the “bureaucratic workload” of family doctors.
“GPs get just as frustrated as our patients when their care is disrupted by admin issues and IT failures,” she added.
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The story behind the numbers
Julia Cream, a policy fellow at The King’s Fund and co-author of the report, said: “Today’s results lay bare the day-to-day dysfunction of an NHS that is too often not meeting people’s needs and highlights the deep inequalities people experience when they are trying to access and engage with health services.
“Behind these numbers are stories of people who are worried about their health and struggling to get through the NHS’s front door.
“The government is trying to bring down waiting lists and improve access but these efforts will fail if the NHS cannot communicate effectively with people about when their appointment is or who they need to contact.”
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An NHS spokesperson said the report highlights “yet another consequence of the long-term capital starvation faced by the NHS, with too many organisations still struggling with outdated tech and data systems to support effective patient administration”.
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It said it had begun to address issues with investment in digitisation, including the NHS App.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman added: “Things are already improving. Today we’ve announced we’ve met our target, seven months early, to deliver more than two million extra appointments for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endoscopy diagnostic tests, and more.”
