Evidence is important but should not be the only consideration: patients' and clinicians' views matter too

doi:10.1136/bmj.39388.456065.1F

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David I Tovey, editorial director

BMJ Knowledge, BMJ Group, London WC1H 9JR

dtovey{at}bmjgroup.com

Health systems need to use resources to their maximum effect. This naturally leads them towards evidence based medicine, since those interventions that have been shown in well conducted (randomised) studies to be most effective should usually be prioritised over those where high quality evidence is lacking.

Problems arise where systems have to juggle alternative choices where the …