This book has been written to provide practical help for people working in and around the health service who are keen to enhance users' experiences. A number of developments which are contributing to more responsive services have been gathered together and, by focusing on practicalities, the book helps to unravel the rhetoric surrounding NHS consumerism and point the way towards action. All the initiatives are concerned in some way with shifting the balance of power towards those using services and away from those providing them. The examples in the book are drawn from across the country and cover a range of different services, client groups and approaches - from the provision of information needed by users to help choose the type of service and treatment they need, through consultation exercises, user participation and the impact of the advocacy movement.