UCL in the News: NHS Choices website launched

NHS Choices is intended to allow patients to access NHS approved information under four different headings:

• Living Well - providing information to help people stay fit and manage their health;
• Health A-Z - providing a library of approved medical literature;
• Choose Services - full authoritative and comparative data on standards and availability of services with quality scorecards for all services;
• Your Thoughts - where patients are invited to comment an feedback on NHS services. …

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh [UCL Surgery], chair of the NHS Choices Clinical Advisory Group, said: "By providing patients with better information you create a spiral that started with informed healthcare decisions and leads ultimately to the provision of a better service. I welcome the publication of clinical performance measures as it is instrumental to this process.

"This kind of information makes for a better consultation. As a surgeon, there is nothing more fulfilling than a two-way consultation with an informed patient who seeks additional detail to reach a better understanding and decision on their treatment, whether that leads to surgery or not." …

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