This publication is the fifth in a series aimed at helping health service staff to obtain the views of service users, and it is written for anyone who has been given this responsibility, whether nursing, medical, paramedical or managerial. The series presumes no social science background and offers a flexible approach which is very amenable to local adaption and interpretation. The booklet provides evidence that users value certain elements such as: the quality of their relationship with the care giver; good communication; appropriate information; and a successful outcome to the treatment, whatever the service area. It includes examples of questions to ask users about these `core concerns'. Readers are encouraged to combine a number of methods to achieve useful information in different circumstances and with different types of service user, and examples are given.