Shared decision making in the UK: Moving towards wider uptake

Shared decision making (SDM) is firmly on the policy agenda in the UK and a recent legal ruling has confirmed its importance. Policymakers, ethicists, professional regulators and societies, patient organisations and now the courts are committed to ensuring that SDM becomes the norm throughout the NHS, but an unfavourable economic climate makes this especially challenging. Considerable progress has been made over the last few years, with new learning from demonstration sites, various initiatives in capacity building and training, wider availability of patient decision aids, and important leadership initiatives. Enthusiasm for this way of working is growing among clinicians, patients and managers, but it could be undermined if SDM comes to be seen primarily as a means of cost control.