Editing Patient (section)

==Patient-centered healthcare==
{{See also|Patient participation}}
The [[doctor-patient relationship|doctor–patient relationship]] has sometimes been characterized as silencing the voice of patients.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Jack A. |last2=Mishler |first2=Elliot G. |title=Attending to patients' stories: reframing the clinical task. |journal=Sociology of Health and Illness |date=September 1992 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=344–372 |doi=10.1111/1467-9566.ep11357498|doi-access=free }}</ref> It is now widely agreed that putting patients at the centre of healthcare<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=M |title=Towards a Global Definition of Patient Centred Care |journal=BMJ |date=24 February 2001 |volume=322 |issue=7284 |pages=444–5 |doi=10.1136/bmj.322.7284.444 |pmid=11222407 |pmc=1119673}}</ref> by trying to provide a consistent, informative and respectful service to patients will improve both outcomes and patient satisfaction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frampton |first1=Susan B. |last2=Guastello |first2=Sara |last3=Hoy |first3=Libby |last4=Naylor |first4=Mary |last5=Sheridan |first5=Sue |last6=Johnston-Fleece |first6=Michelle |title=Harnessing Evidence and Experience to Change Culture: A Guiding Framework for Patient and Family Engaged Care |journal=NAM Perspectives |date=31 January 2017 |volume=7 |issue=1 |doi=10.31478/201701f}}</ref>

When patients are not at the centre of healthcare, when institutional procedures and targets eclipse local concerns, then patient neglect is possible.<ref name="neglect">{{cite journal |last1=Reader |first1=TW |last2=Gillespie |first2=A |title=Patient Neglect in Healthcare Institutions: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Model. |journal=BMC Health Serv Res |date=30 April 2013 |volume=13 |pages=156 |doi=10.1186/1472-6963-13-156 |pmid=23631468 |pmc=3660245 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Incidents, such as the [[Stafford Hospital scandal]], [[Winterbourne View hospital abuse|Winterbourne View hospital abuse scandal]] and the [[Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014|Veterans Health Administration controversy of 2014]] have shown the dangers of prioritizing cost control over the patient experience.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bloche |first1=MG |title=Scandal as a Sentinel Event--Recognizing Hidden Cost-Quality Trade-offs. |journal=N Engl J Med |date=17 March 2016 |volume=374 |issue=11 |pages=1001–3 |doi=10.1056/NEJMp1502629 |pmid=26981930}}</ref> Investigations into these and other scandals have recommended that healthcare systems put patient experience at the center, and especially that patients themselves are heard loud and clear within health services.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry: Executive Summary. |date=6 February 2013 |location= London|publisher=Stationery Office |isbn=9780102981476 |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-of-the-mid-staffordshire-nhs-foundation-trust-public-inquiry |access-date=23 June 2020}}</ref>

There are many reasons for why health services should listen more to patients. Patients spend more time in healthcare services than regulators or quality controllers, and can recognize problems such as service delays, poor hygiene, and poor conduct.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weingart |first1=SN |last2=Pagovich |first2=O |last3=Sands |first3=DZ |last4=Li |first4=JM |last5=Aronson |first5=MD |last6=Davis |first6=RB |last7=Phillips |first7=RS |last8=Bates |first8=DW |title=Patient-reported Service Quality on a Medicine Unit |journal=Int J Qual Health Care |date=April 2006 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=95–101 |doi=10.1093/intqhc/mzi087 |pmid=16282334|doi-access=free }}</ref> Patients are particularly good at identifying soft problems, such as attitudes, communication, and 'caring neglect',<ref name="neglect" /> that are difficult to capture with institutional monitoring.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levtzion-Korach |first1=O |last2=Frankel |first2=A |last3=Alcalai |first3=H |last4=Keohane |first4=C |last5=Orav |first5=J |last6=Graydon-Baker |first6=E |last7=Barnes |first7=J |last8=Gordon |first8=K |last9=Puopulo |first9=AL |last10=Tomov |first10=EI |last11=Sato |first11=L |last12=Bates |first12=DW |title=Integrating Incident Data From Five Reporting Systems to Assess Patient Safety: Making Sense of the Elephant |journal=Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf |date=September 2010 |volume=36 |issue=9 |pages=402–10 |doi=10.1016/s1553-7250(10)36059-4 |pmid=20873673}}</ref>

One important way in which patients can be placed at the centre of healthcare is for health services to be more open about patient complaints.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berwick |first1=Donald M. |title=What 'Patient-Centered' Should Mean: Confessions Of An Extremist |journal=Health Affairs |date=January 2009 |volume=28 |issue=Supplement 1 |pages=w555–w565 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.28.4.w555|pmid=19454528 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Each year many hundreds of thousands of patients complain about the care they have received, and these complaints contain valuable information for any health services which want to learn about and improve patient experience.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reader |first1=TW |last2=Gillespie |first2=A |last3=Roberts |first3=J |title=Patient Complaints in Healthcare Systems: A Systematic Review and Coding Taxonomy |journal=BMJ Qual Saf |date=August 2014 |volume=23 |issue=8 |pages=678–89 |doi=10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002437 |pmid=24876289 |pmc=4112446}}</ref>