I am currently reading a really good book about the NHS and all the politics within the system and how this impacts what a designer can do. For example GP’s are actually the gatekeepers who have control over what money is spent in terms of what sort of treatment NOT your consultant they have to defer to the GP which is mad in itself. However from the aspect of design user focused design in the NHS actually places the consultant or doctor as the end user for any product. This is understandable when it comes to items such as surgical equipment however this also refers to items such as crutches and braces or as I would call them rehabilitation products.
Consultants are often not involved in the rehabilitation process - you see them for what maybe half and hour a week ? Most designers think that because they have so much experience in the area they are the most knowledgeable but the real fact is that your consultant probably couldn’t pick you out in a police line up ! They have no knowledge about the trials and tribulations their patients face when trying to gain some part of their old lifestyle back, to try and become independent again to gain some form of quality of life ! So surely it would make more sense to go directly to the patients themselves or even better to put YOURSELF in their situation to try and understand. A lot can be said for personal experience and the wealth of knowledge that it provides you. Maybe we should bypass the gatekeepers maybe we should just climb over the fence !
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