Published 2 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2495
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2495

Analysis

Measuring patients’ experiences and outcomes

Nick Black, professor of health services research1, Crispin Jenkinson, professor of health services research2

1 Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, 2 Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LF

Correspondence to: N Black nick.black@lshtm.ac.uk

Increasing importance is being given to patients’ views of the humanity and effectiveness of their care. Nick Black and Crispin Jenkinson consider the challenge of using them to evaluate interventions and assess the quality of services

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

There is now a widespread realisation that patients’ views are not optional but essential to achieving high quality care.1 The contribution of patients to NHS funded research in England is enshrined in the national advisory group INVOLVE,2 and the 2008-9 NHS operating framework took the first step in making patient reported outcomes a mandatory requirement for audit.3 In addition, national surveys of patients’ experiences of health care have become a feature of NHS regulation over the past few years.4

Patients offer a complementary perspective to that of clinicians, providing unique information and insights into both the humanity of care (such as dignity and respect, privacy, meeting information needs, waiting and delays, and cleanliness of facilities) and the effectiveness of health care. Given that, apart from when they face life threatening events, patients are generally seeking alleviation of symptoms, reduced disability, and improved quality of life, it makes sense to involve . . . [Full text of this article]


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