Patient experience 

Our work on improving the hospital experience for patients began in the very early days of the Fund. In 1898 the Hospital Visiting Committee was established. The committee was made up of surgeons, physicians and those who worked in the field of hospital management. The committee was divided into smaller sub-committees and each of these was given a group of hospitals within a seven mile radius from Charing Cross. The members of the Committee had the task of writing reports that contained suggestions for improvement in their administrative procedures. 

In the 1930s the Fund began to focus on improving of the experience of patents in hospital. A report titled Patients' waking hours in London voluntary hospitals was published in 1931 and among the recommendations was that patients should not be woken earlier than 6am.

A year later in 1932 the Fund held an inquiry into outpatients, Chaired by Lord Onslow, which looked at hospital overcrowding and waiting times. It found that ‘the out-patient departments of the voluntary hospitals are popular and have the confidence of their patients’, but also drew a number of conclusions about waiting times, highlighting that much of the waiting occurs in the outpatient department, and was less of an issue in casualty or specialist departments. The inquiry also recommended that improved communication between general practitioners and hospital consultants could improve efficiency and therefore provide a better experience for the patient. Following the publication of this report, a committee was set up to help hospitals carry out the recommendations. 

A few years later in 1937 the Fund published a report called Time saving methods at hospital outpatient dispensaries. While the report accepted that waiting is sometimes unavoidable, it looked at ways in which hospitals could reduce outpatient waiting times by shortening the time between patients arriving and when they see the doctor.  

Inevitably, the work of the Fund needed to shift during periods of war. During the second world war much of the planned work, such as the programme of lectures to schools on the history and progress of voluntary hospitals in London, was cancelled or postponed. Other projects, such as establishing the Emergency Medical Service, took priority. 

When the second world war ended in 1945, the focus of the Fund’s work began to shift again. As a result of rationing still being in place until 1954, improving hospital food for patients was a key focus for the Fund.  

Following the war, the Fund also gave a number of grants to mental health initiatives including day accommodation for mental health patients. The aim was to reduce demand for hospital beds at Bromley General Hospital. Funding was also given for a residential centre for patients, providing psychiatric support and social activities. 

In 1958 the Fund looked at a new issue that impacted on patients – noise in hospitals. This issue was surfaced through the hospital inspection scheme, which found that noise levels in hospitals were increasing, and an inquiry was launched. More than 2,000 patients were initially surveyed and a report - Noise control in hospitals – was published.