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Action points

Compiled by Tim Albert

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Q: Can we really achieve patient centred care?
The inquiry into the failures of heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in England made 198 recommendations. Many of them concerned the need to improve the way patients are informed and involved—in other words, achieving patient centred care. In this article, Angela Coulter, Chief Executive of the Picker Institute in Oxford, summarises some of the main things that need to be done. These include:

• encouraging doctors and patients to share information and make joint decisions;
  
• encouraging patients to review their notes;
  
• improving procedures for informed consent;
  
• giving patients access to unbiased evidence-based information;
  
• gathering feedback from patients in a systematic way and acting on the results;
  
• making healthcare providers more accountable.
  

Angela Coulter concludes: "What is needed now is clear leadership from the clinical professions, investment in information and training, and a willingness to change established modes of working".

See page 186

"Coulter's prescription for redesigning health services . . . [Full text of this article]

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