Calling all the Lurkers

I confess that I too was a lurker and it took me a while to make the leap to become a responder.  If a patient or relative takes the time to post their story on website then I feel that they deserve a timely response from the staff who provide the care and my experience has been that positive feedback boosts team morale.  

I found it very daunting when responding to any negative post as I always worried that I would make a situation worse but found that an open and honest apology is a good start even if I cannot implement any change.  Eunice Goodwin has also provided much needed support and guidance when responding, so I would encourage more staff to get involved.

  

Response to Claire Gilroy

Thanks for the blog addressed to "Lurkers". I wonder if the fact that, as of this morning, only 32 people have read it indicates that many don't consider themselves Lurkers, or whether it indicates that we need much more awareness about the existence of Care Opinion.

Anyway, there is a lot of common sense in the blog.  However, I am a bit disappointed, though not surprised, that some clinicians and managers she has spoken to have some reservations about the website and express their discomfort at being commented on through "informal" channels.  I believe that we should all welcome comments, whether positive or negative, from the people we serve in our professional lives.  After all if people hold opinions about the way I interact with them I would rather know what they are and, if necessary, take a long hard look at how I operate.

In my professional capacity I work with a number of mental health service users and their family carers, through a group established to give them the confidence to become involved in helping NHS A&A continually to pursues service improvements and developments.  Initially, some managers were reluctant to accept the legitimacy of this group, fearing, I suppose, that it would be nothing more than a complaint forum.  Certainly, in the beginning there could be elements of negativity.  However, before long both members and managers began to find it useful to know what the users of our services were feeling.  Today, we have reached the happy state where managers will approach me with a request to meet with the group.  In this case, familiarity has bred acceptance.

On a personal level, after a spell in hospital for orthopaedic surgery, I poste a blog (largely positive I'm pleased to say), on the predecessor website - Patient Opinion.  Shortly afterwards, at an outpatient follow-up appointment, the Consultant thanked me for the comments.  This came as a surprise because I had previously been somewhat cynical about the value of commenting.  I am now a convert, and would encourage all staff, whatever their role, to cast aside doubts and embrace the fact that a channel exists for people to express their opinions.  They may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

 

I think it would be really useful to formalise requests for ID from these posts. there seems to be a lot of positive feedback and I think staff are unaware a patient they have treated is being positive.

Hi Clare, I only became aware of this site today through your post and I hope to both lurk and respond. Truly listening to people can lead to change and improvement and its good to embrace rather than be scared of it.