Published 12 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b588
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b588

Editor's Choice

Through the patients’ eyes

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

If we really want to transform the quality and safety of health care, we can’t just do more of what we do now. Even doing it more efficiently won’t be enough. We have to do different things and we have to do things differently. This is the message of two articles in this week’s BMJ.

Hugh Rogers and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2321) tell us that how we deliver and receive care is governed by a set of rules. We may not be aware of these rules, so ingrained are they in how we operate as clinicians and patients, but they represent the design of our healthcare system. Through a series of workshops these authors explored the rules by which patients access secondary care.

It’s immediately clear that the current system is designed around healthcare professionals rather than patients. Only they can decide about diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Only they . . . [Full text of this article]

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Safety first

Jane Feinmann
BMJ 2009 338: b420. [Extract] [Full Text]

New design rules for driving innovation in access to secondary care in the NHS

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BMJ 2008 337: a2321. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

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Patient care is CARING for the patient!

BM Hegde
bmj.com, 14 Feb 2009 [Full text]

Much-needed recommendations indeed !

Dr. Allen P Ugargol
bmj.com, 17 Feb 2009 [Full text]

Focus on patients

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bmj.com, 19 Feb 2009 [Full text]

Let the System again fit the patient.

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