Patients need a strong voice in how NHS is run

Politicians, professionals and the public would surely all agree that patients must have a say in the way they access and receive NHS care, and the opportunity to provide feedback easily on their experience. However, the reality is that patients and other service users often struggle to be heard, not least if they seek redress when the quality of care does not meet their expectations.

Put yourself in the patient’s position and it is easy to see why confusion reigns. There are any number of different ways they can have their say, but few that offer any assurance of their views being taken seriously. For 30 years, patients in England were represented by community health councils. These were scrapped in 2003, since when a succession of services set up to give patients a voice have been created and killed off.

First, patient and public health forums were formed in every NHS trust, but these lasted less than five years before being scrapped. The local involvement networks that followed survived for a similar period, only to be superseded by Healthwatch. Now there are patient advice and liaison services (PALS) in trusts, an NHS Complaints Advisory Service, local Healthwatch offices, patient governors at foundation trusts… the list goes on.

Surely what patients need is an organisation that can represent their interests when services are being commissioned and developed, and offer support when they need to raise concerns. The Patients Association, an independent charity that has operated since 1963, reached out to the public last week to seek financial support so that it can perform such a function more effectively.

Whether the Patients Association is best placed to represent those who use the NHS is for others to judge. But there is much to be said for a single, powerful organisation being given the clout required to ensure patients can play a more significant role in how the health service is run.