This report explores how health consultations can take place through collaboration - a meeting between equal partners with a common purpose.

Key Findings

This report brings together our practical learning and evidence on partnership approaches to consultations. All rely on a core set of new interventions:

• Changing the conversation to focus on patients' goals and outcomes, through care planning, pathway planning and a system of referral and social prescription that incorporates non- medical provision.
• Changing the format to provide flexible, alternative structures according to what is most useful to the patient, not most convenient to the institution.
• Changing relationships to value patient experience and new professional and non-professional roles as sources of expertise.

Consultations sit at the heart of NHS healthcare for patients. In a People Powered Health approach, consultations take place through collaboration - a meeting between equal partners with a common purpose. These consultations create purposeful, structured conversations that move towards patient-driven goals of wellbeing - not diagnosis-driven aims of 'cure' - and are focused on changing the conversation to focus on patients' goals and outcomes; changing the format to provide flexible, alternative structures; and changing relationships valuing patient experience and professional/non-professional roles as sources of expertise.

The culture change required for collaborative working can be difficult for patients as well as practitioners. Both have become accustomed to the current relationship dynamic, even if they are frustrated by it. Those who have persevered, are demonstrating great moves towards more equal, more productive and more human-centred care.

This video looks at approaches to consultations drawing on examples and evidence from the People Powered Health programme:

Authors
Martha Hampson with Katharine Langford and Peter Baeck. Series Editor, Julie Temperley