The Trust is always keen to receive feedback about our services to ensure that we are providing treatment, care and support that are effective and help people. We are encouraging people to use the Care Opinion patient feedback platform to do this.

Similar to Trip Advisor or Trust Pilot platforms used in the hospitality industry, Care Opinion allows patients, service users, families and carers to comment or make observations for others to see. It enables people to commend good care, comment on ways to improve the patient journey and flag any issues. The Trust can then respond individually to the posted comments. It will enable us to review what is working well, where there could be improvements and respond to it.

Responding to Feedback

The Trust currently gathers such feedback in a range of ways - through service user surveys, compliments, complaints, the NHS Choices website, social media - to name but a few. It is anticipated that this partnership with Care Opinion will increase the feedback we get about our services. People can post anonymously if they prefer to or state their name so that they can be contacted for a fuller explanation or further involvement if they want this. People can still contact the Trust in via existing channels if they prefer.

Sharon Eplett, Head of Quality & Performance in Bedfordshire Community Health Services, is excited about the potential of this feedback option. She said,

“The use of Care Opinion will allow service users to share their experiences to improve them for everyone. It will also demonstrate that as an organisation we are transparent, accountable and want to understand how it feels to use our services.“

Paul Binfield, Director of People Participation, urges people to share their experiences. He said,

“Feedback on your experiences is vital. We need to understand the whole spectrum of experience and satisfaction in order to improve. Please share yours with us so we can learn. “

Supporting Co-production

The feedback will help us to adapt and shape our services to improve them and enable true co-production. The platform is moderated and comments published. Care Opinion is an independent not-for-profit platform that is used widely by health and social care organisations across the UK. For more information, visit https://www.elft.nhs.uk/service-users-and-carers/your-feedback-matters or https://www.careopinion.org.uk

Comments Posted on Care Opinion

I had a wonderful nurse who treated me with the utmost respect. She was kind and caring. I didn't feel embarrassed or awkward because she put me at ease. She also gave me some exercises to do to help prevent further issues, which are working well so far. Thank you.

Bedfordshire Continence Service

I would give them a score of 12/10. Professional team with a wealth of knowledge. Excellent patient-nurse communication, they listen and are very supportive. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for me. Perfect!

Bedfordshire Neurological Services

This is the best thing I ever did. I needed help as I was on breaking point and my abilities to cope were diminishing. This is a fantastic service which I think we all need. The resources and service they provide are just what you need to help you get through.

Newham Talking Therapies