Critics call for “misleading” consultation on shared decision making to be withdrawn

Several health policy experts and organisations in England are calling on the government to drop or at least rebrand a recent consultation, which they say is “misleading and damaging.”

The government has been accused of blurring the lines between two different concepts—shared decision making for patients and choice of providers—in its consultation Liberating the NHS: No Decision About Me, Without Me, published on 23 May.1

The document says the Department of Health is consulting further on detailed proposals to implement its commitment to giving patients more say and choice over their care and treatment.

However, it has already provoked angry responses from many quarters because critics believe that the document is masquerading as something else.

A joint letter signed by various organisations is due to be sent to …