Patients are generally happy with care received from the National Health Service, but they feel insufficiently involved in making decisions about how they are treated.

Five national patient surveys published yesterday, the results of questioning more than 300,000 patients, give a generally encouraging view.

Stakeholder Response: Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Tom Pey, director of policy and development at The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, said: "We are calling on the Healthcare Commission to ensure the views of visually impaired people and other disabled people are taken into account in future patient satisfaction surveys.