Patient power - Sarah Harvey & Ian Wylie

Health care in this country is a source of both pride and anxiety. Users and carers are being encouraged to be more active in making treatment decisions, and the public are increasingly being consulted about changes in health care. But when we actually come to use health services, most of us feel we know nothing at all. At a time of inevitable stress and anxiety, we are only too willing to be led blindly, without any clear idea of what is happening to us, unable and too scared to find out.
This book aims to help everyone to make the best possible use of their health services. Taking a patient's perspective, it guides the individual through the maze of health services, step-by-step, from how to register with a GP, how to understand what tests are being done, understanding medical jargon, to how to ask a top specialist about a course of treatment. It aims to put the health care user in the driving seat to make sure they have the best care available. It is a comprehensive guide, covering not only hospitals, but the whole of health care, from care in the home, to complementary medicine and the private sector.