Public Feedback Matters Because...

Monday 29th February was a special day for more than one reason! It was We Get Together 2016 #WGT16 in Salford, and we went along to show our support.

As you know, here at Patient Opinion we believe that health and social care feedback should be public. We think this encourages and supports transparency, and honest, constructive conversations that can side step bureaucratic complaints procedures - which improves services for everyone. We know why public feedback matters, but we wanted to hear why everyone else thinks so too. 

So we asked as many people as we could simply to finish the sentence "public feedback matters because..."

We needed a name, and came up with the brilliant, if quirky, #PObbles hashtag. Patient-Opinion-Speech-Bubbles. Makes sense, right? Anyway, we thought it was a super cute name so went with it!

We had some great answers and so wanted to share some of our favorites with you. If you read them and can think of any more reasons that we've missed, then we want you to join in too! Comment on this blog, or tweet us with why you think public feedback matters and use the hashtag #PObbles and we'll share away!

Nurse Patrick Ffrench Devitt (@critical_nurse) said:Public feedback matters because... "Care is about individuals, not just populations" We couldn't agree more! Collecting feedback through questionnaires can turn people into numbers and experiences into data. This is why we think it is so important for individuals to share their experience in the form of a story, which, written in their own words, connects staff with the person behind the feedback.

Claire Agnew, (@ClaireAgnewRN) Senior Nurse said:

Public Feedback Matters because... "we need to know we are getting it right for that person."So many of staff that we work with tell us the exact same thing; nothing boosts your confidence like knowing that you are doing your job right and making a difference, or as Claire says, getting it right for each person. If staff don't know that they aren't getting things right, how can things improve?

Lovely Student Nurses, Zoe, Amy and Holly agreed:

Public Feedback matters because... "to stay person centered". 

Being person centred is so important, and stories help keep that focus. Patient stories can make all the difference to students who are learning about how their choices can make a huge impact on the people in their care. This is why we are working with educators to use the stories from Patient Opinion in the training of staff.

And Finally, Liz, (@197liz) Pofessional Development Lead Nurse said:Public Feedback matters because... "It is the only we know how an experience was for an individual.  It is vital and should underpin all healthcare delivery". We couldn't have said it better ourselves!

Thank you so much to everyone who took part. It's been great to hear your ideas. To view the rest just search the #PObbles hashtag on twitter, or add your own, we'd love to see them!