A radical future of patient- centred care might take the following path:
• Hospitals incorporate patients in care teams to co-decide policy and treatment protocols;
• Patients determine the protocol for access to consultants;
• Records owned by patients, accessible to anybody the patient wishes to see them;
• Patient advocacy groups control share of medical research budget;
• Facilitators appointed to secure appropriate resources on a timely basis for groups of patients and to work with patients to determine new resource priorities.
A less radical route could include the following:
• Hospitals increasingly use patient forums to discuss policy;
• Consultant access remains a matter of professional authority;
• Patient records are gradually digitised and then incorporated into an electronic patient records system;
• Patient advocacy groups take a role in developing the medical education curriculum, especially on doctor-patient communications issues;
• Hospital queues remain acute because of undifferentiated access to services.