Government should acknowledge that choice may be at odds with public health policy
The Government should acknowledge that its policy of promoting patient empowerment and choice will sometimes be at odds with public health policy, according to a professor of pharmacy practice.
Theo Raynor, head of pharmacy practice and medicines management group
at the University of Leeds, raised the question of whether patient empowerment
and public health were two opposing themes at a Pharmaceutical
Care Network Europe working conference in Denmark last week.
Professor Raynor said that patient empowerment and involvement in decision-making
is being promoted by the Government but, at the same time, it is issuing
increasing numbers of guidelines that limit prescribing, for example,
National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines. “What if
the doctor or funder does not agree with the decision the patient wants
to make,” asked Professor Raynor. “And how far should we
try to persuade [patients]?”
He believes that the Government needs to acknowledge that this is an
issue and that there needs to be an element of compromise. By talking
about patient empowerment and patient choice the Government is creating
unrealistic expectations without explaining the boundaries. “Choice
is something we should be offering but it needs to be accepted that it
will not be a completely free choice,” he said.
Meeting report p248 |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader