BMJ  2004;328:159-161 (17 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7432.159

Education and debate

Public involvement in health care

¹ Health Policy, King's Fund, London W1G 0AN

The NHS needs to be clear about the aims and how to achieve them

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

The government is promoting public involvement in health care as part of new NHS policy.^{1 2} Proposals include allowing the public to elect members of the governing boards of foundation trusts³ and primary care trusts' obligations to engage with the public.⁴ However, clarity and consensus are lacking about what public involvement means in health care, why it is desirable, and whether current policies will meet the desired objectives. We examine the latest polices and their potential effects.

What public involvement means

Public involvement and other allied terms are used to mean a variety of activities or objectives. In this article we use public involvement to refer to the involvement of members of the public in strategic decisions about health services and policy at local or national level—for instance, about the configuration of services or setting priorities. Public involvement is different from patient involvement, which refers to the involvement of individual patients, together with health professionals, . . . [Full text of this article]

Why is public involvement desirable?

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Public involvement policies

Democratic input

Responsiveness

Conclusion

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