WIREDGOV

Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association, will take part today in a workshop to discuss why some patients still struggle to be heard and involved in decisions about their care.

She will be joined by Dr Helen Mackie, National Clinical Advisor for Realistic Medicine, and Professor Robina Shah, Professor of Medical Education and Psychosocial Medicine, University of Manchester. The workshop is part of the General Medical Council's Better healthcare together, day-long conference taking place today.

Rachel will talk about our views on patient partnership and how patients want different things: some want a partnership approach; others want to be told what to do. Doctors need to be sensitive to these different needs and tailor their approach. 

As an organisation we are interested in how healthcare professionals make decisions about a patient's care and what barriers might exist to doctors or nurses working in partnership with patients.

Currently, we are running a survey, supported by the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, to understand how clinicians and healthcare professionals reach these decisions in practice, and to help to spread best practice in the future.

The findings will be published in a report this summer. We expect our results will offer a lot of insight into current practice and approaches.

If you are a clinician practising in the UK click here to take the survey.