GPs should be subject to the ‘Family and Friends Test’ being rolled out in hospitals across the country later this year, Prime Minister David Cameron has claimed.
The scheme, in which patients will be asked whether they would recommend a service, will be rolled out across hospitals in April 2013.
However, Cameron has announced his intention to introduce the test to GP surgeries, district nursing and community hospitals by 2015.
The ‘Friends and Family test’ has been piloted in the Midlands and the east of England and a £50m funding pot will be available for hospitals to support the initiative.
“We have an excellent health service, we have very high standards in nursing care in most of our hospitals,” Cameron told BBC Radio 5Live.
“But recent examples – Stafford, Redditch and others – show we have got a problem in some places and the friends and family test is a very simple way of asking those patients and staff the very simple question: would you be happy for your friends and family to be treated in this hospital?
“It can act as a flashing light, if the numbers start to dip down you see a problem and then you know you need to do an investigation.”
The test is expected to highlight where “there is a basic standard of dignity, cleanliness and respect”.
