The NHS patient information lottery: it is whom you see rather than what you need

Objective: To examine the current scale of provision of patient information materials by consultant surgeons in UK NHS and private sector hospitals. Design: Secondary analysis of the responses of 12,555 surgical patients to surveys evaluating surgical services provided by specific consultants. Setting: 7 NHS Trusts and one private sector hospital distributed throughou t the UK. Main outcome measures: Provision of information materials by hospital, surg eon, and case-mix. Comparison of this service with patients' evaluations of surgeons' verbal communication in the outpatient clinic. Results: Great variation exists between surgeons of the same speciality, an d between hospital surgical directorates as a whole in the routine provisio n of supportive information materials to patients undergoing surgery. This variation cannot be explained solely by clinical need. Patients treated in private hospitals were less likely to receive information materials compare d to patients treated within the NHS. Conclusions: Provision of printed information materials to patients by clin icians appears to be arbitrary. With the prospect of national performance f rameworks in the foreseeable future, it is reasonable to assume that not on ly will the content of patient information be determined by quality standar ds but in addition, its availability will be decided by clinical need rathe r than the clinician's preferences or interests.