Announcing the UCL Partners programme

Back in 2005, when Care Opinion (then Patient Opinion) began, the main patient feedback activity in England was the annual patient survey, covering all NHS trusts. The results would typically be shared with execs and at staff meetings, and there was little evidence of change as a result.

Gradually, over the 14 years since then, perceptions and practices have changed. Increasingly, patient feedback has become near real-time, more narrative (not just numbers), more granular at service level, and often online.

Health service staff are starting to see feedback as a source of motivation, learning and change. And the key to progress now seems to be ensuring that clinical teams receive patient feedback quickly, easily, directly, in ways that allow them to understand and act on what is being said.

UCL Partners programme

So we are excited that UCL Partners have announced a programme of support to use Care Opinion in four secondary care departments in London.

The four departments which will be piloting Care Opinion over the coming 6 months are:

• Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust – Maternity Service
• North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust – Emergency Department
• Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust – Neurological Rehabilitation Centre
• University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Maternity Service

As we work with these teams during the course of the pilot, we'll be sharing (or encouraging the teams to share) progress, pitfalls and possibilities.

We have some experience to date in working directly with multidisciplinary care teams. For example, Care Opinion was used by the maternity team at Royal Oldham Hospital, with very positive results. And over the past two years we have supported 12 palliative and end of life care teams to use Care Opinion.

It isn't easy

We understand it may not be easy for clinical teams to immediately adopt and succeed with online feedback. Staff are busy and under pressure, resources are limited, and there may be ambivalence about the value of patient feedback.

But we also know that regular feedback directly from patients can be a powerful source of energy and learning for a team, lifting morale, reconnecting people with their values, providing encouragement, and motivating changes which improve care and build the confidence of the team.

So I'd like to thank UCL Partners for supporting this pilot programme in London. We're really looking forward to supporting these four new teams in working with online feedback. We'll let you know how we (all) get on!