Table 2.

The importance of factors in the referral process for selecting a hospital or a specialist

	Mean (s.d.) of the 70 responses
Patients’ preferences for a hospital or provider	4.3 (0.7)
Quality of care	3.8 (1.0)
Patient’s travel distance to a hospital or provider	3.8 (0.9)
GP’s personal contact with a specialist	3.6 (0.9)
Waiting list	3.5 (0.8)
Specific treatment or techniques	3.5 (0.8)
Experiences of other patients	3.4 (1.0)

The responses were given on a five-point Likert scale, with ‘5’ representing ‘always taken into consideration’, and ‘1’ as ‘never taken into consideration’.

Standard deviation: s.d.