News

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust (HWHCT) is set to formally launch a new digital platform for capturing patient feedback. It's expected to increase transparency around patient experience, and ensure patients receive a timely response when concerns are raised.  

The Trust, which runs a range of mental health, learning disability and community nursing services for children, young people and adults will officially launch Care Opinion across its services next week. 

The platform offers a space for patients, service users, families, and carers to post their feedback and stories about NHS services.  

Staff can respond directly to submissions, supporting transparency between patients and their health providers. It will also speed up the process in which feedback is received and responded to – improving experiences for both patients and staff alike. 

Over the past 18 months, the Trust has been gradually introducing the platform through a phased approach. During this period, 95% of the stories shared by patients highlight a positive experience of the care and support they received. 

To date, over 400 staff have been trained to use the platform so they can directly respond to feedback. This is important in helping HWHCT identify what works and what could be better by ensuring feedback is acknowledged, acted on, and used to enhance services. 

Sue Harris, Director of Strategy and Partnerships said “Behind the scenes, our teams have been working hard to ensure staff are trained up and are confident in using the Care Opinion platform.  

“With trained staff now able to respond directly to feedback, we’re making sure patient, families, and carer voices are heard.  

“It’s about putting people at the heart of everything we do by improving the accessibility of our feedback channels, tackling health inequalities, and ensuring everyone has a chance to shape the care they receive.” 

While Care Opinion is a digital platform, the Trust recognises that not everyone has equal access to online services. 

Sue added, “We’re committed to making our services accessible and part of that is strengthening the ways in which patients can provide feedback.” 

Patients and the public can access the Care Opinion website to tell their story by visiting www.careopinion.org.uk, or calling 0800 122 3135 to leave feedback about their care via telephone if they prefer to or cannot access the site. There is also an option to send in feedback by post, and we would encourage people to get in touch with the service to explore their options.

Care Opinion is also just one of the ways people can share their experiences. Patients and families can also give feedback through other routes, including the Trust’s Patient and Liaison Service (PALS), the Friends and Family Test, and directly with the service they access. 

People are encouraged to visit www.hacw.nhs.uk/patient-and-carer-experience for the full range of feedback options available.