Visiting Care Opinion Canada: A week of learning from each other

At the end of October 2025 I was delighted I travelled to Calgary, Alberta to spend a week with the Care Opinion Canada team. Care Opinion Canada is a project of Imagine Citizens Network, who for the last 10 years have been working to enable people who live in Alberta to influence and become valued partners in improving health care experiences and outcomes.

Care Opinion Canada gives the people of Alberta the same opportunities as people here in the UK; to share anonymous online feedback in ways that are safe and simple. When health services listen, this leads to learning and change.

My visit was an opportunity for all Care Opinion Canada staff to spend several days together working on the Care Opinion Canada website, and gave us all the space to think deeper about moderation and the support provided to health services. We spent time reviewing the moderation policy and work flow in Care Opinion Canada. The policy is developed from the UK policy but needs to account for specific local situations and health systems. We also used the time to delve deeper into the reporting capabilities on Care Opinion, both for Canadian subscribers and for evaluations purposes.

I was delighted to be able to meet so many early adopters of Care Opinion within the Alberta health system. Whilst they were earlier on in their journey than many of our subscribers here in the UK, it was interesting to hear that they had the same ambitions and the same concerns as colleagues in the UK. A highlight was meeting Georgina and Laura who are involved with Bashaw and District Support Services, they are finding innovate ways to make sure people living rurally can access healthcare in their community Last month they received their first story!

Many subscribers we spoke to were also starting the see the power of stories for improving staff morale and making services changes, including the team at Bethany Care Society, which runs several long term care facilities. This is a lovely example of story are response.

Carewest also discussed with me this fantastic online interaction about the use of devices by staff. Their replies were open and honest and the author replied to say they were “truly grateful and thankful”. I am honored to have spent the time with Canadian health services and hearing about their experiences.

As I reflect on an intense and inspiring week, I feel a strong sense of connection and shared purpose with our friends in Canada. I have worked at Care Opinion UK for 16 years, taking on many roles within the organisation from moderation, to subscriber support, to now quality improvement. To see a whole new set of people halfway around the world fill those roles and bring with them new ideas and a fresh vision was wonderful to see.

I was thoroughly looked after by the wonderful Care Opinion Canada team as we whizzed from place to place (fueled by incredibly good coffee and sandwiches) and am so grateful we were able to spend that time together sharing our learning and experiences. Care Opinion is a global community I am delighted to be a part of. Special thankyous to Elizabeth and Laurie, who were excellent hosts and thought of everything.

We are always learning and improving. Just as we ask health services to listen and strive to be better, we ask that of ourselves within the Care Opinion community. Visits such as this (and our CEO’s visit to the Care Opinion team in Australia) reaffirm the importance of connection and shared vision. They are a unique opportunity to bring our collective skills together and improve Care Opinion for story tellers and staff.