Choosing voices: The Department of Health's online interpretation of what patients want

Since 2005, reforms in the National Health Service in England, overseen by the British government's Department of Health (DH), have further stimulated a market by increasing the number of providers and encouraging patient choice. This study compares the DH's reporting until 2010, on its website, of ‘what patients want’ and the research evidence for its statements. It will consider whether the evidence is more ambiguous than the website summary implied; obscuring the voices of those with opinions running counter to patient choice, as the DH defined it. Finally, it reflects on whether there has been a subsequent change of approach.