No decision about me, without me - Department of Health

partnership with professionals. The strategy emphasises the importance of
providing support to those who need it in interpreting and using the information
available, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in decisions
about their own care and treatment. It also sets out an approach, based on
nationally set information standards, to achieve fully joined-up systems to
enable information to be captured once and shared right across the health and
care system
5.8 Since 2007 NHS Choices 33 has been the online “front door” to the NHS. It is
the country's biggest health website and provides the information a patient
needs to make choices about their health. This includes information on choosing
between treatment options and choosing healthcare providers.
5.9 We also provide Choose and Book; an electronic referral and booking system
that allows patients to see the appointments available to them at different
providers, and then to book an appointment either with the GP who refers them,
or via the internet or telephone. The system is a key means in ensuring that
patients and their referrers have the opportunity to choose clinically appropriate
providers and appointments that suit them, both in terms of where the
appointment takes place, and when it takes place.
Promoting patient involvement
5.10 The responses to the consultation clearly expressed the importance of policies
on patient involvement in ensuring “no decision about me, without me”
becomes a reality. These policies will include work on embedding care
planning, shared decision-making and providing information and support
necessary to enable people to manage their own condition, where they wish to
do so.
Helping those with Long-Term Conditions
5.11 Having heard the vital role of personalised care planning, we are consulting on
introducing a pledge on care planning into the NHS Constitution: "to involve
you in discussions about planning your care and to offer you a written record of
what is agreed if you want one (pledge)".
“We further welcome the use of personalised care plans being incorporated into
QIPP. We hope that this will see much more widespread use of personalised
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