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Thank you to the Patient Opinion team!

Posted By Grace3

"Thank you to the Patient Opinion team!"

About: Patient Opinion

(as the patient),

I thought whilst I'm in the mood for writing, that I'd take the opportunity to thank Paul Hodgkin and the rest of the Patient Opinion Team for providing a means for Patients to voice our opinions.

On 5th July 1948 our NHS was born thanks to Aneurin Bevan, a Welsh miner turned Labour Politician known as Nye Bevan.

The NHS is just a few years older than I, but we're both Cancerians because we were both born around the same time. Cancerians are renowned for their protective maternal instinct and many of us are suited to the medical and nursing professions or become carers via other ways. I've been both a long term carer since childhood of disabled parents, I'm also a former Medical Secretary, and of course I'm also a Patient.

I'm very passionate about the NHS, not just because I'm a Patient and I want the best treatment, but because I believe in caring. And that includes caring for the carers too. When I voice my opinions, criticisms and have a good old rant, it's not because I'm against the NHS, it's because I love it and I want it to survive and thrive. Obviously, I'm voicing my opinions for my own sake too but as a former employee of the NHS I believe very strongly that any NHS environment has to benefit not just the Patient but also the Clinicians and all other staff who work there. EVERYONE who works in the NHS is doing an important and responsible job, that includes cleaners, caterers, volunteer workers too. Just as the NHS couldn't function without doctors and nurses, it also couldn't function without ancilliary staff either.

But let's get back to the Patient. Without Patient's there would be no need for an NHS - without Patients I for one would have been out of a job for many a year!

And that's why I think this impartial Patient Opinion Website is invaluable not only for Patients but for NHS Employees because without proper provision for Patient feedback, admittedly passionate and critical feedback at times, there would be a danger of complacency within the NHS and we can't allow that to happen to such a wonderful organisation.

Thanks once again to the Patient Opinion Team :-)

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Responses

Response from Paul Hodgkin, Chair, Patient Opinion 14 years ago
Paul Hodgkin
Chair,
Patient Opinion

I chair the Patient Opinion board and work on vision and strategy

Submitted on 18/08/2010 at 09:34
Published on Care Opinion at 01:00

picture of Paul Hodgkin

Hi Grace3,

What lovely words! It really does mean the world to us that people like yourself find sharing their stories on the site helpful, that's what we're all about.

Like you we feel very protective of the NHS. There are plenty of places on the web now where people can share their opinions about the NHS, but there are very different values governing each one. We've always wanted to ensure that Patient Opinion is as much for the benefit of staff as it is for the benefit of patients and their families. You rightly say that some feedback is 'critical and passionate', and so it should be because that reflects the every day experiences people have in health services.

When I started out in 2005, I did so with the aim of creating a channel which enables (and encourages) people to be honest and constructive and in the years since, it's been a delight to see that thousands of people have come to the site because that's just what they were looking for. Better still has been working with services across the country to ensure that praise and gratitude reaches hard working teams of staff, and opportunities for improvement are acted upon.

I hope you'll continue to share your experiences on the site, and thanks again for your very kind words.

With all the best,

Paul, and the rest of the Patient Opinion team

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