Annual Review of stories told on Care Opinion about NHS Scotland services in 2024-2025

We are thrilled to present our Annual Review of stories told about NHS Scotland services in 2024-25. You can access the full report by clicking the picture below, or through the following link: Annual Review of stories told about NHS Scotland services in 2024-2025.pdf

To access a plain text version of the document, click, here:

Plain text version - Annual Review of stories told about NHS Scotland services in 2024-2025.docx

The theme of this year’s review is ‘Scotland’s commitment to continually listen and improve’. To date, over 57,000 stories have been shared on Care Opinion by patients, service users, relatives, carers, and friends. These stories whether they express praise, gratitude, raise concerns, or share reflections, offer valuable insight into people’s experiences of care.

Staff members across NHS Scotland have responded over 72,000 times, showing how they are listening and using this feedback to make services better for everyone.

In this year’s review, we take a closer look at the 11,458 stories shared in 2024-25, which is the highest number of stories received in a single year about NHS Scotland services.

Below, you’ll find a summary of some key insights, however, to read the whole report and all the inspiring pieces from colleagues from around the NHS in Scotland, please click on the link above.

Highlights from 2024-25 review:

• There was a strong 26% increase in stories shared by the public about NHS Scotland services compared to the previous year.
• Of the 11,458 stories shared by the public, these received 13,873 responses from staff and services and have been read over 1.6 million times so far.
• An impressive 77% of the stories shared were completely positive with 23% having some level of criticality.
• There are currently over 4,419 staff members on Care Opinion actively listening to and responding to stories across Scotland.

Inside the Annual Review:

This Annual Review opens with a warm welcome from our CEO, Fraser Gilmore, who shares key insights and reflections on the past year. It continues with an overview of Subscriber Support, demonstrating how the support team empowers staff across Scotland to make the most of Care Opinion. An update from the Realistic Medicine team follows, highlighting their collaboration with Care Opinion and sharing their latest developments and initiatives.

The review also showcases some the most read stories of the year in Scotland featuring thoughtful responses and examples of meaningful change. In addition to these highlights, the review includes two case studies from individual services, each focusing on their unique experiences using Care Opinion, and an article from a Health Board, sharing their journey and learnings from using the platform throughout 2024–25.

There are also reflections from our moderation team, exploring how listening begins and the critical role moderation plays in ensuring that every story is heard. Finally, a detailed statistical overview presents national and Health Board-level data, including story numbers, response rates, story criticality, subscription member counts, story reads, and the number of responses for each Health Board in Scotland.

We hope you enjoy reading our 2024-25 Annual Review of Stories told about NHS Scotland services. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at info@careopinion.org.uk.