On Patient Choice

Ben Bradshaw, Health Minister, has had some flack for his statement about a patients legal right to choose their GP.  The Darzi review is responsible, of course, for this renewed interest, by commiting the NHS to allowing patients to choose their GP.

Choice is contentious is education as it is in health, with some believing that "... ‘patient choice’ is a cover for the government’s desire to whip the health service into shape by introducing more and more externally imposed, soul-destroying, managerial targets."

But what happens when we look at choice from a patients perspective?  Ignoring for a moment the potential consquences GP choice may have, how do patients feel about the choices they have now?  Looking at responses from patients on the Patient Opinion site, it's clear that some feel frustrated by the process.  But where it works, it works very well.