Carmen Soto, MBBS BMedSci (Hons) MSc MRCPH PhD, is a pediatrician at University College London Hospital. Her PhD focused on the perceptions of children and their family into their perceptions and experiences of healthcare and promoting patient safety. The learnings from this have helped her to improve outcomes in young complex individuals by focusing on engagement with the family structure.
Dr Soto’s principle findings suggest that a considerable barrier to improving outcomes was the language used. Traditional healthcare consultations focused on imparting information to the healthcare subject – very much separating the doctor from the patient. Moving the conversation to open an open communication acknowledges that the mindset of the person with the illness is as much part of the treatment as the interventions themselves. Her expertise in this co-production model of healthcare is effective in the management of many other chronic diseases, and she is engaged in teaching these techniques to doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals to improve outcomes.