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Thu 03 Mar 2009Patient must be at heart of healthcare debate
OPINION:THE PROVISION of healthcare is one of the most sensitive and emotive areas of our social fabric. It is also one of the most opaque areas of professional provision. Of all of the services to which we have access, it is the one that has the least usable data for the consumer. Historically the patient/client has been expected to follow blindly the doctor’s advice with little input or participation in his/her treatment, writes KEN ANDERSON
The ability of patients to act as consumers and therefore participate in their own treatment has been severely hampered by medical secrecy and arrogance.
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