Use your Care Opinion blog to share the story behind the story

Our Social Media Advice and Support blog is drawing to a close! So we thought we'd share some blogging advice in our penultimate advice blog!
Did you know that, as a Care Opinion partner, you have your own blogging platform right here at your finger tips? (If you're logged in, check the yellow bar at the top of the page and you'll see "blog").
In my role as a subscriber support officer, I regularly suggest using the blogging platform as a means of sharing the great work going on behind the scenes. But I am almost equally as regularly met with a slightly nervous response, which is totally understandable, because writing a public blog (especially for the first time) can definitely feel a little daunting. But, I promise it isn't as scary or time consuming as you might think.

Using your Care Opinion blog is a great way to share the little victories. Sharing the great stories you receive, and the ones that have resulted in a service improvement on twitter and Facebook is fantastic. I couldn't recommend it more! But, a blog is great for when you want to share something and 280 characters just can't do it justice, but a report or article doesn't feel appropriate either...

Say you received a story that was shared with lots of staff, discussed among teams, and resulted in a change put in place to improve the service. It might have even lead to a fantastic response or two, perhaps even one back form the author of the story. Simply sharing this story on Facebook or twitter might not feel quite enough, and this is exactly the perfect opportunity to write a blog. It gives you the opportunity to go into a little more detail about the processes behind the change, from the story being shared to initial reaction, how the staff felt, who was involved, the options discussed and what happened next. Once you've written the blog you have the opportunity to publish the story and send an alert to all the members of your subscription. Again, this is another opportunity to keep the members of staff within your service involved and learn how perhaps a different department to theirs manages their Care Opinion feedback. It's a great opportunity to really extend that shared learning.

Then, after you have hit the "publish and alert members" option, you can share it on social media. Tweet out your blog so people can see the story AND the story behind the scenes. People do want to know more!

It doesn't have to be a blog about a story either. You can blog about anything, whether that is an event you held, a new way of collecting feedback in your service, or any new ideas or successes you've had. Plus, we can help you write your blog, whether you need someone to check over it before you hit publish, give you ideas and feedback if you're struggling for what to write, or help you condense it down if you're a bit of a waffler like me! Just give us an email or a call and we'd be more than happy to help! A short and sweet blog can go a long way!

For inspiration: Here are some of my favourite blogs written by Care Opinion partners, short and sweet and all sorts of themes and ideas behind them! 

- Stockport NHS Foundation trust: Our Care Opinion Launch 
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Using the “mum test” in PEOLC
- Inclusion: Cambridgeshire's Brain Chemistry Workshop Feedback
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: An NHS Communications perspective on Patient Opinion
- NHS Fife: The direct ask flyer really works!