When service users' support obscures problems with care: the need for rigorous research into patients' experiences.

摘要

Policy makers and health service leaders often justify changes to health care provision with claims that the changes reflect what matters to citizens and service users. But the basis for their claims is sometimes unclear or weak. Two papers in this issue of Health Expectations illustrate how new health service arrangements that appear to attract patients' support can fall short of delivering key aspects of care that matter. These papers highlight the danger that superficial assessments of service users' opinions may obscure important concerns. They remind us of the importance of well-designed and well-conducted research into patients' experiences of care - and of the need for those who influence the development of health services to make good critical use of this.