Building knowledge and capacity for patients and their advocates about the “systems” of healthcare is empowering for patients. The European Patients’ Academy (EUPATI) was established across Europe in 2012 to provide education and training to patients and their advocates. Initiatives like EUPATI have broken new ground in terms of patients’ education and learning opportunities. Taking their knowledge back into decision making bodies like the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) can lead to a greater focus on the issues that matter most to patients. That focus on the outcomes and issues of concern to patients give those of us working in this field the opportunity to take population-level recommendations as the basis for individualised decisions, shared between patient and clinician.