The UK King Fund published a report "Seeing the Person in the Patient" in Nov 2008, a point of care review paper of the UK NHS healthcare system. This paper is worth a read by all healthcare professionals.
As our healthcare hospital and healthcare system grows in complexity and under pressure to see an increasing number of patients and cost pressures, significant progress in the treatment of diseases and the fact that patients are treated faster often does not translate into good patient care.
How patients are treated, not in the sense of what medical intervention is offered, but how they are cared for, how they are looked after can often become an issue.
Discussion about patient centred care in healthcare can be sensitive as it offends people. Every healthcare professional likes to think he or she is patient centred. "The basic notion for me is to see through the eyes of the patient and understand patient expectations, perception and experiences rather than just seeing through our professional eyes..." as quoted in the report.
The problem is when we avoid talking about patient Centred care as a means to avoid conflict, patient experience over time takes a hit.
Time for us to think and refocus on the Patient to frame the care that we provide. This is best summed up in a motto that I have come to be proud to be associated with "Patients. At the Heart of All We Do."
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