Today sees the launch of new Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch England campaign, Share For Better Care.
They want people to give their health and care feedback, particularly as they have found that people are more likely to complain about commercial services and products than their experiences of health and social care, according to new research by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and health and care champion Healthwatch England (HWE).
CQC and HWE surveyed 2,000 people to find out about habits for giving feedback on health and social care services, with nearly half (43%) of participants identifying as being from minority communities or backgrounds, and/or had one or more protected characteristics.
More than half of people surveyed (54%) said they find it easier to provide feedback about their experiences of commercial products and services such as hotels or meals, compared to providing feedback about health and social care. Despite over two-thirds (72%) of people saying they feel health and social care services are a priority for them, only 2 in 10 (20%) said they had given feedback in the last 2 years.
When asked why they hadn’t fed back about their experiences of care, over a quarter (26%) said they thought their feedback would not be listened to, 1 in 5 (22%) said they worried it would have a negative impact on their care; and a further fifth (21%) said they didn’t want to cause a problem for the people caring for them.
People also said sharing feedback about commercial products and services was less emotionally taxing (18%) and less personal (26%) than sharing on health and social care experiences. They felt feeding back commercially was often quicker and had more available options to do so. The research also found that many opt to confide in their family (15%) or a friend (14%) about a negative experience within health and social care, while only 10% told the service directly.
Public feedback is important to CQC and HWE, and helps health and social care services to improve. They’re there to listen and review what people tell them, whether it’s good or bad, big or small. Feedback can play an important part in helping health and care leaders identify safety issues. It can also allow for the sharing of good practice and can help boost staff morale.
Jabeer Butt, Chief Executive of The Race Equality Foundation said:
“The research suggests that there are a number of reasons why people do not give feedback, but we would argue that at the core of all these reasons is trust. If people trusted that they would be listened to then they would feedback, similarly if they trusted that they would not be disadvantaged, they would feedback. Importantly, we know trust is something that can be developed through clear communication, being transparent in the decision-making process and putting people at the centre of how we organise and deliver support.
“Our experience in working with people from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds is that trust is often the key to improving experiences of services. Hopefully by developing trusting relationships we will also do better in securing feedback from all.”
The campaign is supported by a collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation, National Dignity Council, Royal Association for Deaf people, National Voices, Challenging Behaviour Foundation, the Patients Association, VoiceAbility and Disability Rights UK.
Share For Better Care, aims to support the voice of people using care services. Unfortunately, not everyone’s voice is being heard. The Commission particulaly want to hear from people whose voices are seldom heard to share their care experiences. This includes people who are more likely to experience poorer care and inequalities.
The campaign will focus on collecting experiences from people from seldom-heard communities, including:
