Patientfriends www.patientfriends.org.uk
"A local support group that, campaigns for patient rights and improving patient care in the NHS."
More information about Patientfriends.
- What is Patientfriends?
- What need or problem is Patientfriends addressing?
- Who is Patientfriends for?
- How can Patientfriends help you?
- How does Patientfriends operate?
- What are the policies and FAQ of Patientfriends?
- How does Patientfriends campaign to improve healthcare?
- Does People Power make any difference?
- How do you think the NHS could be improved?
- How Patientfriends works
Meetings and local activities in Brighton and Hove area.
What need or problem is Patientfriends addressing?
Each and every one of us matter, to ourselves, our families and friends and to society at large. I think it very important that everyone gets the highest standard of healthcare. In my view the NHS overall does a great job. I have a huge amount of respect for all doctors, specialists, nurses and other NHS staff.
However in my view it's not uncommon to get very poor level of patient care. Sadly it's also very common for one's health to be given a very low priority. Also there is a strong feeling, that as a patient one is very powerless, that you have very few rights. There is a sense that no one really wants to know if you are satisfied with your healthcare. There is also a sense that there are very few or no consequences to a doctor or NHS Department for providing a low standard of patient care.
One of the main aims of Patientfriends is to address this problem, in a positive problem solving fashion. I believe patient care can be improved by encouraging people to give feedback and take on board their suggestions how things can be improved. I believe by raising the profile of patient care issues and highlighting the concerns or experiences people are having with the NHS treatment, will be to patient care being transformed for the better.
I think there is a need for a completely independent group that is genuinely concerned about peoples NHS medical care. Because at the moment it really seems to me that the NHS doesn't really want to know if you have received poor quality treatment. I don't wish to generalise and I do think things are getting slightly better. The NHS has the PALS Department which is there to look into patient care issues and problems. In my own experience they are very nice people, and they will listen to a problem. But that's as far as it goes, I say again that this is my impression but I believe they have very little power to stand up the patient's rights. Whereas the doctors and consultants seem to have so much power that no patient complained can touch them.
I believe this is an unhealthy situation, because if there are little or no consequences to a doctor or specialist for giving poor quality health care, then there is unlikely to be any motivation to increase standards. I would like to see more accountability between patient and doctor or patient and NHS Department. By accountability I mean people who are being served by the NHS are listened to and there is a facility for patients to give feedback, and real efforts made to address the concerns that patients are experiencing.