1 Patients and their Problems; Situated Alliances of Patient-Centred Care and Pathway Development

In the medical sociological literature, ‘standardization ’ and ‘patient-centred care ’ have been positioned as perfect conceptual opposites. In this study we explore what the specificities of this opposition are, what their limitations are, and in which sense a re-conceptualization of both concepts could lead to their pragmatic commensurability. We do this empirically by drawing upon an ‘interventionist ’ research project where we were involved in the development of care trajectories that were to contribute to making care patient-centred. We indicate that recent debates within political science are helpful for reconfiguring discussions and practices on patient-centred care and standardization in such a way that the issues patients, care professionals and organizations face are put centre stage. We conclude that ‘situated standardization’ that focuses on the articulation and settlement of issues, can be productive for making care patient-centred in more substantial ways. 2 Its 11:00 a.m. on a morning in May in a hospital in a large city in The Netherlands. This hospital, which we will call ‘hospital A’, is a universit