Stories on patient perspectives
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Features
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Patients are a virtue
Patient participation can help health services to develop – but doctors must learn to participate too, says Jill Murie
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Independent and informed – for now
Government plans to abolish community health councils offer no coherent alternative, argues Murray Benham
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Patient advocacy ‘jewel’ is stolen away
Community health councils are to be replaced by trust-based ‘PALS’ – but Angeline Burke argues that patients need an independent system if their interests are to be protected
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Do we still need CHCs?
As plans to devolve health care commissioning to Primary Care Groups gather pace, is there still a role for Community Health Councils? Toby Harris explains why we still need the watchdogs of the NHS
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Thou shalt not disparage another doctor
Recent events in Bristol have brought into question the ability of the medical profession to regulate itself for the public good. In particular, the General Medical Council has found difficulty in putting the interests of patients above those of professionals, argues Jean Robinson
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When things go wrong...
The old NHS complaints system was notorious for being confusing and unsatisfactory for all concerned. Lesley Wratten explains the thinking behind the new system, which began on 1 April
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Shorter waits for the clinic?
Patient’s Charter standards have had little effect on outpatient waiting times, says the Radical Statistics Health Group
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What shall we tell the patients?
Do patients going into hospital for common surgical procedures get the information they need, when they need it? Christine Tucker and Angela Scriven find room for improvement
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’Growing old is like being increasingly penalised for a crime you haven’t committed̵
So wrote Anthony Powell in his novel Temporary Kings — and his words ring true in the wake of revelations that some NHS patients are being denied treatment solely on grounds of age. Here, John Brazier, Paula Jones and Adam Darkins examine aspects of the relationship between elderly people and health care
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Life in the old watchdogs yet
The NHS changes have brought change to every level of the service — including community health councils, says Dave Lee
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Losing their patients?
Everybody is talking about the quality of health services — but nobody’s asking the people who know, says Arthur Clarke
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What role now for CHCs?
Where do community health councils go from here? Fedelma Winkler, organiser for the Greater London Association of CHCs, talks to healthmatters
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Interview
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A right to be heard
In an exclusive interview with healthmatters, charge nurse Graham Pink explains how his campaign to improve care for his patients began — and how it ended
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Columns
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Undignifying institutions with good intentions
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Why has it taken so long to achieve so little?
The need for effective procedures for complaint has been present since the birth of the NHS. Charles Webster asks why the new system is weaker than one proposed over 20 years ago
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News from nowhere
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A sudden death can be difficult to handle...
Sheila Goodwin, a sister in a coronary care unit, tells healthmatters of a day in her life
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News
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Patient forums struggle to recruit
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Patient expertise may be lost to NHS
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Bill abolishing CHCs faces stormy ride
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‘Voices’ raised over patient power
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NHS watchdogs survive to bark another day
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CHC calls for new powers to represent patients
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CHCs are looking out for the user’s views in GP commissioning
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Take some good advice
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Eye-test figures plummet
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Reviews
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Caught in the net
The Patient’s Internet Handbook
Robert Kiley and Elizabeth Graham
Royal Society of Medicine Press, 2001, £9.95 -
Voices of experience
WHAT’S GONE WRONG WITH HEALTH CARE?
Alison Hill (ed)
King’s Fund, 2001, £14.99 -
For hearts and minds
THE HEART ATTACK RECOVERY PLAN: the positive approach to managing your lifestyle
David Symes
THE STROKE RECOVERY PLAN: a practical guide to getting better at home
RL Hewer, D T Wade
Vermilion, 1996, £8.99 each -
Good choice
Evidence-based patient choice
Tony Hope
King’s Fund, 1996
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Letters
