Sharing Feedback on Local Services

Feedback websites are currently being created to help people share their views and experiences about the care they receive.

As these become more widely known about and used, they will start to provide a valuable source of qualitative information about the kind of care people are likely to receive from local health and social care services.

Many social care organisations are privately owned and need to attract people to their services. To some extent they are already reliant on maintaining and promoting a good reputation.

As we move to a "Choose and Book" system in the NHS these feedback websites may prove to be a powerful lever to encourage service providers to focus on dignity issues and the patient experience.

Dignity Champions may wish to take personal responsibility for ensuring they promote responsible use of such websites and use them themselves when they have contact with good or poor care services.

"I was recently in hospital and thought the way I was treated by staff was exceptional. They made a real effort to preserve my dignity at all times. When I recovered I logged on to www.patientopinions.org.uk and NHS Choices and shared my experience of the ward and its staff. Hopefully, their managers were made aware of their good work! I think this could also be a powerful way of making hospitals pay attention to poor experiences of dignity in care - these comments are public so I imagine they are keen to address any negative comments" Dignity Champion - service user

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