We tend to see any new technology in terms of the old. And so it is with Patient Opinion. Is it a better survey? Is it PALS online? Perhaps it's like TripAdvisor?
It isn’t any of those things, but something more. As the writer William Gibson once said: “The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.” We can glimpse the future by learning from those across the UK who are already using Patient Opinion to go beyond traditional forms of “feedback” and “engagement” towards new ways of listening, learning and changing in real time.
We’ve identified five organisations (and there are others coming up fast) which are going further with Patient Opinion. Working with them, we plan to share their experiences of using, and creating impact from, public online feedback about their services.
Recently, we’ve been lucky enough to work with a talented team of students from Sheffield Hallam University, who have been filming with four of our five exemplar organisations. They’ve been asking staff how they use Patient Opinion, and why.
The first of these short films is now available - about Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust - and we’re pleased and proud to be able to share it with you today. More films will follow as they are completed.
It is important to reflect that the future isn’t inevitable or predestined. We will create it together, according to the values that guide us and the choices we make.
If you want to partner with us, so together we can learn to build new forms of patient engagement which work well for patients, staff and the broader public interest, please contact us. Or read more about the advantages of subscribing to Patient Opinion.
And feel free to comment below.
PS: Our five exemplars are:
Learning from those who are creating a different future
Learning from those who are creating a different future https://patientopinion.blob.core.windows.net/profile-pictures/657ea709-7097-4125-bba0-046aa4473e1c.jpeg Care Opinion 0114 281 6256 https://www.careopinion.org.uk /content/uk/images/logos/co-header-logo-2020-default.pngUpdate from Care Opinion
Posted by James Munro, Chief executive, Care Opinion, on
Response from Jane Danforth, Involvement & Experience Officer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Team, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust on 10 Mar 2015 at 09:04
Since we started working with PO since 2008 we have seen huge strides in technology. The first time we heard about sharing feedback publicly online caused 'a tremor in the force!' At that time, Nottinghamshire Healthcare had a completely different culture around feedback and used the traditional PALS & complaints routes.
The hard work really began when we had to convince people to share their stories online. Luckily, tenacity is one of my strengths and once we saw how quickly changes and improvements to services could be made there was no stopping us. Great support from the Trust Communications Team really helped the Involvement Team to progress and in time many more staff came to understand the power of experiences told through stories. There was no hiding anymore! PO moderated the stories which helped to increase user confidence about anonymous feedback without fear of compromised healthcare for themselves or a loved one.
We didn't make it easy for ourselves though. In giving direct ownership to staff in teams it meant we had to support staff to reply online instead of going through a PALS or complaints team which, at that time was the usual route for feedback and still is for many people. As we have hundreds of sfaff responders careful management has been uppermost in our minds. We have some emerging evidence that some of those stories have stopped issues escalating formally. This means we have lots of different way for people to tell us what they think of our services.All of the feedback we receive about our services are reported on our 'Your Feedback Matters website' http://feedback.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/
Staff tell us they like to be able to respond directly and as most of the feedback is positive staff are really responsive when negative feedback is received. They are less defensive and really want to put things right. They are able to say sorry directly to someone who may have received a disappointing experience for what ever reason and connect with the individual.
I would urge any Trust thinking about subscribing to PO to do it, it works, it is powerful and services can be improved because of it. The PO team provide great support and guide you through the early days to build an online presence and confidence. Thank you PO.