If we are to take forward a meaningful and sustainable change in the way individuals relate to the health service, it will be essential to have people on board who have experience of being patients. They can help us drive forward this evolution, as partof a small local team with all the necessary partners. We will need this voice to beheard to help us all actively counter-balance the dominance of the traditional way of relating, and renegotiate a new relationship. Some changes in both professionals andpeople who are used to being patients will be necessary, to be successful.