This is a project to explore the extent to which patients feel they are able to exercise a meaningful choice over the type and brand of medicines and treatments that are offered by their GP or consultant.
Successive governments have reiterated that patient choice lies at the heart of the NHS, but in practice more attention has been paid to the choice of hospital than the extent to which individuals feel able to make an informed choice between different treatment options. This project will explore the relationship between patient and doctor, the role of the internet in providing information to patients, and what this means for the way in which medicines are regulated, evaluated and made available. Given that the NHS has recently launched a major programme of work around patient choice, this will be a timely and impactful contribution to the public debate. (This project explicitly excludes end-of-life treatment options.)
For further information about this project, please contact Kitty Ussher at [email protected].