Towards a global definition of patient centred care.

Key messages about patient centred care can be drawn from the paper by Little et al in this issue of the BMJ (p 468). Firstly, strong agreement exists between the definition of patient centredness that arises empirically from this observational study of patients in the United Kingdom and another definition arising from reflections on practice in South Africa and Canada, suggesting an international definition of patient centred medicine. Secondly, the premise of the observational study is correct—that the best way of measuring patient centredness is an assessment made by the patients themselves.