Patients: the most under-used resource in healthcare

Harry Cayton OBE
Chair, National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care 

 A key message from Harry Cayton at the RCP patient agenda conference was how patients are now members of the care team and how their experience becomes an asset to healthcare.

Using the resources that patients – usually as rational, knowledgeable people with a desire to be well and happy -  bring to their consultation is vital.

A further important point raised by Harry Cayton was how investment in self-management should be a priority.  Of the 8765.81 hours in any year, a typical number of contact hours that an individual will have with health care professionals is around 7-10, yet there is little investment into the hours that patients spend caring for themselves.

Not everyone has the capacity to care for themselves and Harry Cayton talked of projects such as ‘Communites for Health’, led by the community, often funded by the community, to build a healthy understanding and support the needs of each other to be healthy. 

Harry Cayton concluded by suggesting that in changing people’s behaviour towards a healthy and happy way of living involved:

• beginning with where people are; which means going out and not expecting people to come in’;
• building on people’s values and motivations;
• leading on person/local objectives (not national, professional or political);creating change from partnership not power;
• putting the resource for change under community groups not professional.