Over 4,000 patients provide feedback on care received in Western Trust

‘Care Opinion’ was first introduced to Northern Ireland back in August 2020, and the Western Trust said it was proud to “mark this new milestone and reflects back on the journey so far”.

Vi Gray former Care Opinion facilitator in the Western Trust said: “Feedback from the public using our services is very important. Care Opinion provides a platform for the public to share their experiences on what was good, what could be improved and how we made them feel.

"This helps us identify good practice which in turns boots staff and team moral, knowing they have made a difference. We all share responsibility to acknowledge and be open and honest when things don’t go right when not so positive feedback comes through and to look at what could be done differently. It is fantastic to see how staff have progressed over the years as they embed the platform into services.”

Michelle Scott, Patient Client Experience Lead for the Trust said: “Over the last two years in my role, I have been privileged to work with amazing staff delivering lifesaving and life changing services to the people within the Western Trust.

"We have been given a great opportunity to listen and engage with service users implementing over 70 changes to date which we have been able to share this work with the authors and readers on the platform.

"Care Opinion is a great platform that we can use for service user involvement work with more and more applications of the system being discovered. We look forward to the five years celebrations of Care Opinion in Northern Ireland this August with our regional facilitators and PHA.”

The online Care Opinion resource provides an opportunity for patients to relate their experiences of health care or social care within the last three years with the Western Trust.

The story can be from a patient themselves or someone close to them and people are encouraged to “say what happened, what was good, and what could have been better”, using words, or pictures, or both, to help them tell their story.

Stories can then be shared to the Care Opinion website. Names and personal details are not shared.

For more information see: https://westerntrust.hscni.net/contact-us/complaints-comments-and-compliments/care-opinion/