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The idea of standardised leaflets for patients across the NHS (BMJ
2009;338:b975)is another example of the seductive but dangerous fallacy of
benign, paternalistic centralism. It is well established that information
users have a huge variety of needs. What works for you may be far too
complicated for me or vice versa. Neither one size nor one channel fits
all. A single template would stultify innovation and would soon look tired
and bureaucratic as general communication styles change and move forward.
All infomation providers - even charities and the NHS - have an agenda.
Let's not vote for soviet-style central leaflet production but a vibrant,
creative multi-channel economy of regulated patient information, with the
NHS and other providers, voluntary or otherwise, held to the same high
standards of balance and factual accuracy.
Competing interests:
Chair of NHS Direct NHS Trust;
Chairman of Datapharm Communications Ltd
Standardisation is death
The idea of standardised leaflets for patients across the NHS (BMJ
2009;338:b975)is another example of the seductive but dangerous fallacy of
benign, paternalistic centralism. It is well established that information
users have a huge variety of needs. What works for you may be far too
complicated for me or vice versa. Neither one size nor one channel fits
all. A single template would stultify innovation and would soon look tired
and bureaucratic as general communication styles change and move forward.
All infomation providers - even charities and the NHS - have an agenda.
Let's not vote for soviet-style central leaflet production but a vibrant,
creative multi-channel economy of regulated patient information, with the
NHS and other providers, voluntary or otherwise, held to the same high
standards of balance and factual accuracy.
Competing interests:
Chair of NHS Direct NHS Trust;
Chairman of Datapharm Communications Ltd
Competing interests: No competing interests