Exploration of the orthopaedic patient’s ‘need to know’

Within health care the focus has tended to be on the communication of information to patients, with less emphasis on what patients themselves would like to know about. This study focuses on what patients themselves feel they need to know, and why. It reports longitudinal, qualitative research following 19 patients through elective orthopaedic surgery. Evidence of their process of reflection was analysed, and a strong theme that emerged was the patient’s ‘need to know’, juxtaposed with an absence of full information. This paper uses transcript extracts to illustrate the range of reasons that patients felt they needed more information, and the effect of their not having it. Key findings are: patients’ information needs do not have to be validated by clinicians before being strongly felt; clinicians can not expect to anticipate all patients’ information needs; clinicians could easily have fulfilled most of the information needs identified here, had they been aware of the queries; a highly economical way of improving the quality of patient care would be to establish the context in which hidden queries could be voiced.