No decision about me, without me - Department of Health

4. Greater patient choice: all along the pathway
4.1 We heard that while increasing patient choice of provider alone will not make a
reality of patient-centred care, it plays a vital role alongside the policies on
patient involvement.
“Giving patients a greater say in their care and giving them more opportunities
to choose for themselves what they want is certainly commendable and to be
welcomed.” [The Patients Association]
4.2 The NHS Act 2006 27 makes this point clearly with a duty for the Board and
clinical commissioning groups to promote both patient involvement and patient
choice. The Act requires the Board and clinical commissioning groups to:
“act with a view to enabling patients to make choices with respect to aspects of
health services provided to them.”
4.3 In April 2011 the NHS Future Forum was asked to report on the role of choice
and competition in improving quality in the NHS. A recommendation of the
Forum was for the Secretary of State’s mandate to the NHS Commissioning
Board to set clear expectations for the Board regarding choice.
4.4 In response to this recommendation the Department of Health is publishing a
Choice Framework for NHS funded care and treatment in England that sets out,
for the first time, the choices available to patients all along the care pathway and
across services. The NHS Choice Framework supports the delivery of the
Government’s Open Public Services agenda. This agenda aims to ensure that
everyone has access to the best possible public services, and that the best
become better still. By making clear the choices that the public have over their
healthcare, more people will be encouraged to make choices that best meet their
needs and preferences. This will drive improvements in the services provided,
as they will be more directly accountable to their patients. We say more about
the NHS Choice Framework in the next chapter.
Choice of GP
4.5 Many responses welcomed proposals to enable people to register with the GP
practice that best suits their needs.
27 As inserted by the Health and Social Care Act 2012
19