Sharing your feedback about health and social care services

Healthwatch Brighton and Hove, Healthwatch East Sussex and Healthwatch West Sussex undertook research on how people want to share feedback about health and social care services following proposed changes to the future of Healthwatch. They received 536 responses over a five-week survey period. Most respondents were older adults, 67% were women, 32% had a disability, 64% had a long-term condition and 24% were carers. 

The survey found overwhelming support for maintaining an independent way for people to share feedback. Around three-quarters of respondents had heard of Healthwatch, 94% said having an independent organisation to receive feedback was important or extremely important, and 70% said they would prefer to raise concerns with an organisation independent of the NHS and local councils rather than directly with service providers. People’s main concerns about providing feedback directly to services were that they would not hear how feedback had been used, it might affect their future care, responses would take too long and they would be unable to remain anonymous. 

Respondents said the most important aspects of giving feedback were feeling listened to, helping services understand what needs to change, having feedback acknowledged and understanding how feedback leads to improvements. They also strongly valued organisations that engage directly with communities, make recommendations for service improvement, attend meetings with health and care bodies and carry out visits to services. Qualitative feedback consistently highlighted Healthwatch’s independence, local knowledge, information and advice services, research and reports, and Enter and View visits as its most valued functions. 

The report concluded that independence, trust and visible action are central to effective patient and public feedback systems. Respondents wanted multiple ways to give feedback, including online, telephone and face-to-face options, a single clear point of contact, protection of anonymity and evidence that feedback results in meaningful change. Concerns were also raised that removing an independent feedback organisation could disproportionately affect people with disabilities, long-term health conditions and carers, who were more likely to value independent support and advocacy services.