Socialist Health Association Promoting Health through Socialism

Patient Opinion

www.patientopinion.org.uk

james.munro@patientopinion.org.uk

PPI: could the web help?

The web is transforming how we access and share information
Holiday and hotel reviews, book reviews, restaurant reviews…
Sharing pictures, videos
Collective creation of reputation
Citizen journalism

Much official health and social care information is already available online:

nhs.uk
Healthcare Commission reports
Social care inspection reports
But none of this comes directly from the experience of patients

PPI and the web: pros

A (very) public forum
Widely accessible, even from home
May allow wider participation
Can cope with almost infinite numbers
At low cost
Allows even quiet voices to count
Allows anonymity

PPI and the web: cons

Requires net access
Unfamiliar
Not face-to-face
May be harder to establish authenticity and trust

Patient Opinion

A new website

For patients
to give feedback on their health services
to easily see what others are saying

For health care providers
to hear – and respond to – patient concerns and thank-yous
to compare their ratings with others
How is Patient Opinion set up?
A social enterprise
A not-for-profit business
Not a charity or a project

Independent of the NHS
But sharing NHS values

Our experience to date

About 1,500 opinions and ratings posted in 2006
Much of it very positive
Many “thank yous”
Some very critical, but usually thoughtfully so
We are able to publish over 95%
Services are responding
Trusts are learning to respond
There is some wariness
A new style of communication is needed
But small changes to services are already being made

Where next?

Covering more services
Maternity, mental health, primary care…
Widening engagement
Could this be used by Links or OSCs?
How could patient organisations get value from this?
Generating real change

last updated 15/01/07