Will the charities start to use patients?

GPs are expects to have a new power in the NHS to commission NHS
services. This is a big change.

Charities are always trying to influence decision makers to deliver on
their goals. For example Rethink asked their ecampaigners to email their
MP to approve NICE's schizophrenia guidelines and ask that they were
adhered to. They used the public - specifically their stakeholders - to
influence their minister of parliament.

in the old NHS GPs had little power other than prescription or referral
to another treatment. In the former role they became targets of drug
company sales representatives. These people were part of the tranche of
methods used by drug companies to boost their sales. The sales reps were
tasked with making personal relationships with GPs and other doctors.
Their role was to create influence with prescribing physicians.

Charities have a remit to create influence, at least if they're
campaigning charities. They will need to innovate in the new NHS and I
wonder if one of their tactics will be to use patients to get key
messages and information across to GPs?

After all ,there's nothing immediately wrong with informing patients and
empowering them with information to further the laudable goals of a
campaigning charity. Drug companies already have their point of entry to
create influence. Patients get 5-10 minutes with their GP and if they
could donate a minute of that time to spouting a campaign message then
charities have a low cost way to deliver their messages to decision
makers. Patients become used by charities to influence decision makers
in all sorts of ways all the time.