BMJ 2002;324:648-651 ( 16 March )

Primary care

    After Bristol: putting patients at the centre
    Commentary: Patient centred care: timely, but is it practical?

After Bristol: putting patients at the centre

Angela Coulter, chief executive. 

Picker Institute Europe, Oxford OX1 1RX

angela.coulter@pickereurope.ac.uk

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

Many of the 198 recommendations made by the Bristol inquiry urged doctors to include patients as active participants in their own care. Angela Coulter discusses how these recommendations can be turned into reality

The public inquiry into failures in the performance of surgeons involved in heart surgery on children at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1984 and 1995 made 198 recommendations on how to prevent failures in the future. The pre-eminent recommendations urged doctors to:

• Involve patients (or their parents) in decisions
• Keep patients (or parents) informed
• Improve communication with patients (or parents)
• Provide patients (or parents) with counselling and support
• Gain informed consent for all procedures and processes
• Elicit feedback from patients (or parents) and listen to their views
• Be open and candid when adverse events occur.¹

These recommendations are fine rhetoric, but how can they be turned into reality?

Improving responsiveness to patients has been a goal of health policy in the . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Provision of taped conversations with neonatologists to mothers of babies in intensive care: randomised controlled trial

Tieh Hee Hai Guan Koh, Phyllis N Butow, Michael Coory, Donna Budge, Li-An Collie, John Whitehall, and Martin H Tattersall
BMJ 2007 334: 28. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Clinical quality should be put at the centre of care

William G Pickering
BMJ 2002 324: 1398. [Extract] [Full Text]

NHS must respond to patients' needs and wishes
BMJ 2002 324: 0. [Full Text]

Informed compliance
BMJ 2002 324: 0. [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Smith, F., Orrell, M. (2007). Does the patient-centred approach help identify the needs of older people attending primary care?. Age Ageing 36: 628-631 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Koh, T. H. H. G., Butow, P. N, Coory, M., Budge, D., Collie, L.-A., Whitehall, J., Tattersall, M. H (2007). Provision of taped conversations with neonatologists to mothers of babies in intensive care: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 334: 28-28 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Habiba, M, Jackson, C, Akkad, A, Kenyon, S, Dixon-Woods, M (2004). Women's accounts of consenting to surgery: is consent a quality problem?. Qual Saf Health Care 13: 422-427 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Little, P., Dorward, M., Warner, G., Moore, M., Stephens, K., Senior, J., Kendrick, T. (2004). Randomised controlled trial of effect of leaflets to empower patients in consultations in primary care. BMJ 328: 441- [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Dunn, N. (2003). Practical issues around putting the patient at the centre of care. JRSM 96: 325-327 [Full text]  
• Jacobson, L., Elwyn, G., Robling, M., Jones, R. T. (2003). Error and safety in primary care: no clear boundaries. Fam Pract 20: 237-241 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Markham, R., Smith, A. (2003). Limits to patient choice: example from anaesthesia. BMJ 326: 863-864 [Full text]  
• Joffe, S, Manocchia, M, Weeks, J C, Cleary, P D (2003). What do patients value in their hospital care? An empirical perspective on autonomy centred bioethics. J. Med. Ethics 29: 103-108 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Pickering, W. G (2002). Clinical quality should be put at the centre of care. BMJ 324: 1398-1398 [Full text]  
• Kizer, K W (2002). Patient centred care: essential but probably not sufficient. Qual Saf Health Care 11: 117-118 [Full text]  
• McQueen, D., White, P. D, Fuller, R., Sharpe, M. C (2002). Discomfort of patient power. BMJ 324: 1214-1214 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Time gentlemen time

peter r. williams
bmj.com, 19 Mar 2002 [Full text]

Lack of time or of role?

Aureo Muzzi
bmj.com, 22 Mar 2002 [Full text]

"It's attitude, stupid" to paraphrase Bill Clinton

Roger M. Goss
bmj.com, 29 Mar 2002 [Full text]

None so blind

Mitzi MA Blennerhassett
bmj.com, 1 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Patient-centred care: let’s start with those who most need it

Josip Car, et al.
bmj.com, 8 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>