NHS trusts — patient choice

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At the 2004 annual NHS Confederation conference, a survey suggested that the patient choice programme was among the most important initiative on managers’ agendas.

The findings of a DH consultation on patient choice were published in Building on the best. The possible extension of patient choice to the majority of care groups could be quite revolutionary, as this is not just about the responsiveness of the service but where and how people want treating. With these continued moves to put PCTs more in the driving seat, and in future, choice being offered by GPs, we could see patients referred not to hospital but to community services — for example, GPs with special interests.

The proposed enhanced services in the new GP contract will also draw work out of the acute sector. The new programme will also incorporate the experience of the expert patient programme.

A report from the Picker Institute charts patient empowerment trends across Europe — The European patient of the future is at www.pickereurope.org. Even patient fundholding is being resurrected, with arguments that this would create a sense of individual responsibility for health resources. Here real power would be with the patients who could use it to buy a guaranteed package of services from purchasing co-operatives.