Patient want more treatment

PATIENT WANT MORE TREATMENT

UTRECHT - Patients want more speech about their treatment. According to the Patient Federation of the Netherlands, people would like to decide with the doctor in the consulting room, but there is not much in practice yet.

Research from the organization among nearly 8000 members shows that one in seven feels insufficiently involved in the decision on treatment. And four in ten think there was insufficient attention for the patient's personal situation.

They need much more information. "About the treatment itself, about the pros and cons thereof. And about the risks. "

One-way traffic

A conversation with a healthcare provider is often one-way traffic, the organization proposes. People want to discuss what can be done with the doctor. "They want this because it's about their own body. In addition, patients think they can make a valuable contribution to the interview in the consulting room, "the federation said.

Last year, research from the organization also showed that many patients did not feel that they could make a valuable contribution to the conversation with their doctor in the hospital. In order to improve that, a campaign had already started. Writer Bart Chabot is the ambassador of that campaign. It has already become better over recent years, says the patient organization. "But we're not there yet."

Huib Cense, surgeon and deputy chairman of the Federation Medical Specialists said that decision-making between physicians and patients should be obvious. He advocates the use of comprehensible and reliable tools, such as "consulted cards": short, intelligent choice tools that provide immediate insight into treatment options in a particular condition. "These consultation cards support patients and their doctors when deciding on appropriate treatment," said the surgeon.