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Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on April 21, 2006
Rheumatology 2006 45(12):1522-1528; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kel132
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Patients' views on the quality of health care for rheumatoid arthritis

H. Lempp1, D. L. Scott1,2 and G. H. Kingsley1,3

1Academic Department of Rheumatology, King's College London School of Medicine at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas’ Hospitals, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9PJ, 2Department of Rheumatology, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS and 3Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Lewisham, Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6LH, UK

Correspondence to: Heidi Lempp, Department of Rheumatology, King's College London School of Medicine at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas’ Hospitals, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9PJ, UK. E-mail: heidi.k.lempp{at}kcl.ac.uk

Objective. To study the experiences and views of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on the quality of health care received in primary and secondary care.

Method. Semi-structured interviews with 26 individual patients with RA; these were stratified by sex, ethnicity and disease duration, based on the treated prevalence cohort of patients attending two outpatient clinics in South East England.

Results. Patients highlighted four main factors which influenced their attitude and approach towards hospital staff and the treatment offered: (i) their past experiences with the National Health Service (NHS), (ii) their own health beliefs, (iii) professional attitudes (e.g. listening to patients, receiving feedback on disease processes) and (iv) organizational aspects (e.g. good communication between health professionals) which would make their visits to the outpatient clinic easier.

Conclusion. Most patients no longer see themselves as passive recipients of care. They appreciate acknowledgement from health care professionals of their contribution towards management of their own chronic illness, and welcome a more equal dialogue with health care staff. This is consistent with the emphasis of the Department of Health document on ‘Supporting People with Long-term Conditions’ such as RA.


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