Guidance
This guideline covers the components of a good patient experience. It aims to make sure that all adults using NHS services have the best possible experience of care.
NICE has also produced guidelines on improving the experience of care for people using adult NHS mental health services and improving the experience of care and support for people using adult social care services.
In June 2021 the recommendations on shared decision making were replaced by NICE's guideline on shared decision making. For further details, please see update information.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- knowing the patient as an individual
- essential requirements of care
- tailoring healthcare services for each patient
- continuity of care and relationships
- enabling patients to actively participate in their care, including communication and information
Who is it for?
- Healthcare professionals
- Non-clinical staff who come into contact with patients (for example, receptionists, clerical staff and domestic staff)
- People using adult NHS services and their families and carers
Is this guideline up to date?
We checked this guideline in August 2021. We found no new evidence that affects the recommendations in this guideline.
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.