The chairman of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Professor David Haslam, has suggested that people in Britain need to become much more confident about sharing decisions about their health with their doctor and taking an active role in managing their health and wellbeing. He said that British patients should become more assertive and see themselves as “equal partners” with their doctors, with legal rights, in the same way that patients in America do.
Prof Haslam is concerned that many patients are not being offered medications that have been approved by NICE and that patients should become more knowledgeable about their health conditions, and tell their doctors if they believed they were missing out on treatment which could help them. In an interview with The Telegraph, he said: “When products have been approved for use by the NHS by Nice, patients have a legal right to those drugs - as long as they are clinically appropriate. The take-up should be much higher than it currently is."
He said that patients should become more knowledgeable about their health conditions, and tell their doctors if they believed they were missing out on treatment which could help them. He stressed that he was not suggesting that patients should be confrontational but that they should be able to assert what they wanted, and only be refused drugs which are backed by NICE if there were good clinical reasons why the medication would not suit them.
“I think it is essential for the future of the health service and for the future health of the nation that patients understand their conditions, their treatments and work with their health advisors so they can have the best care,” he said. “The fundamental point is it’s your body - and the more you understand about the drugs you are taking, or what you might be able to have, the better you are able to work with your doctor.”
Earlier this week a Government report found that thousands of patients are not receiving drugs for cancer and other major diseases, even though they have been approved by NICE, the body which decides which treatments the health service should fund. Professor Haslam who is himself a former GP became Chairman of NICE last April.
