Ben Bradshaw, Health Minister, has had some flack for his statement about a patients legal right to choose their GP.  The Darzi review is responsible, of course, for this renewed interest, by commiting the NHS to allowing patients to choose their GP.

Choice is contentious is education as it is in health, with some believing that "... ‘patient choice’ is a cover for the government’s desire to whip the health service into shape by introducing more and more externally imposed, soul-destroying, managerial targets."

But what happens when we look at choice from a patients perspective?  Ignoring for a moment the potential consquences GP choice may have, how do patients feel about the choices they have now?  Looking at responses from patients on the Patient Opinion site, it's clear that some feel frustrated by the process.  But where it works, it works very well.

Today saw the publication of Health Minister Lord Darzi’s report High Quality Care for All, containing “ambitious plans" to raise the quality of healthcare for patients right across the NHS.

According to the NHS site Our NHS, Our Future, “High Quality Care For All sets a new foundation for a health service that empowers staff and gives patients choice. It ensures that health care will be personalised and fair, include the most effective treatments within a safe system, and help patients to stay healthy.”

So far, responses to the report have varied.  In response to the recommendation that hospitals are to be fined or rewarded with financial bonuses of up to 5% of a hospital’s budget based on what patients think of the quality of their care, a post by Tom Reynolds on the very enlightening blog Random Acts of Reality notes that "Giving patients choice is a fine idea in principle, but for many of the patients that I deal with they just don't have the knowledge to make an informed choice on their treatment.”

Careworld.net, a blog aiming to “highlight the inadequacies, the poor decision making, the hypocrisy and their consequences”, points out that the reports is “silent on the issue of the NHS top down highly bureaucratic structure…” noting that  “this is an important opportunity missed.”

The Jobbing Doctor, whilst acknowledging that dissection of the review over 2-3 weeks is in order, describes it as “a sagging souffle” and “a hugely disappointing review.”  In my considered opinion, whatever the responses to the review, it at least has identified that staff must be empowered to make real changes, and so effectively address ever increasing expectations from a public who are constantly being told that the NHS is to be led by them.

The challenge now is to turn Lord Darzi's vision into reality, in a notoriously slow moving and heavily bureaucratic NHS.  Practically speaking, Patient Opinion aligns well with Darzi's key recommendations, providing support to staff by demonstrating exactly what it is patients want and need, based on their experiences, suggestions and comments and providing support to patients by helping them make informed choices about their care.

As it’s been a great week for recognition (we’re finalists in the UK Catalysts awards and the New Statesman New Media awards), maybe we can forgive Lord Darzi for choosing to mention NHS Choices but forgetting to mention Patient Opinion in his plans for a high quality NHS.