Gathering Feedback on home care: guidance from clients, family members and care providers

Healthwatch Hampshire drew on insight from people who use care services, their families, and home care providers to develop a guide that supports organisations in improving the quality and amount of feedback they receive about their services. 

Providers, clients and family members felt that a good approach to gathering feedback was to combine more structured tools (such as periodic surveys annually or 6monthly) with ongoing informal check-ins at key moments, including a few weeks after the service has been set up and after hospital discharge. Clients and families prefer direct channels such as telephone, email, and in-person conversations. 

People were motivated to provide feedback when they felt it would help improve their care and make it better suited to their needs. They viewed feedback as an opportunity to open dialogue and initiate changes in their care. Offering multiple options and finding out what people’s preferences are, is essential for inclusivity and higher response rates. 

Feedback questions should be short, focused on topics that are important to people, and available in a range of formats. Care providers found that investing in measures to support clients to participate and avoiding overly complex questions improved response rates. 

Responses showed that feedback can both inform person-centred care and provide strategic insights. Therefore, organisations have systems to record, track, and act on individual comments, integrating insights into care planning, service adjustments, and wider operational decisions. Closing the feedback loop is equally important. 

Clients and families should be told what changed as a result of their input, using communication methods they prefer. 

Care providers felt that feedback should be embedded in organisational policy with clearly defined roles and staff to coordinate collection, analysis, and reporting to ensure that insights are routinely shared with senior leadership.