Realistic Medicine is an approach that aims to put you at the centre of decisions made about your care.

It encourages your healthcare professionals to:

• find out what matters most to you
• treat you as an equal partner
• share decisions about your treatment options so that you’re supported to make an informed choice about what’s right for you.

Realistic Medicine recognises that a one size fits all approach to health and social care is not the most effective path for you or the NHS.

Realistic Medicine isn’t just about doctors. ‘Medicine’ includes all healthcare professionals who use their skills and knowledge to help people maintain health and to prevent and treat illness. This includes professions like nursing, pharmacists, physiotherapists and social workers.

What Matters Most to You?

Realistic Medicine encourages your to be actively involved in decisions about your care and treatment to ensure the health professionals involved in your care understand what matters most to you.

To help you get the most out of your next appointment, there are four key questions it’s worth remembering to ask.

• What are the benefits of my treatment?
• What are the risks of my treatment?
• Are there any alternative treatments I can try?
• What happens  if I do nothing?

By asking these questions you will be able to make an informed choice about the treatment and care that’s right for you.

Healthcare staff are more than happy to answer these and any other questions you may have. To find out more visit the It’s Ok to Ask or Realistic Medicine websites.

Want to share a story about your care?

We value your feedback and use it to identify common themes and inform future changes and improvements to our outpatients services. Our staff also find feedback useful as it let’s them know when they are getting it right and when they could do better.