On patients, doctors and ethnographers: a response to Launer

Introduction

In a recent piece, John Launer calls for 'patient-led ethnography' because it 'could be a rich source of information for improving healthcare'.1 In the spirit of opening up a discussion regarding the value of ethnography for driving improvements in access to care, healthcare quality and patient safety, we would like to offer the following response to Launer. And in an effort to maintain consistency with Launer's article, we limit the references, with a few exceptions, to the same references he cites in 'Patients as ethnographers': namely, Leigh Goodson and Matt Vassar's (2011) 'An overview of ethnography in healthcare and medical education research', alongside Jan Savage's (2000) 'Ethnography and health care'.2 3

Launer's experience of ethnography occurs somewhat accidentally. During a 2-week hospital stay, he comes up with a playful idea to regard himself and his colleague 'not as patients but as undercover ethnographers, engaged to...

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