People are more likely to feedback 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).
The research is part of a new Share for Better Care campaign launched by CQC and HWE in 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. The campaign aims to encourage everyone to give feedback on their experiences of care, focusing on people more likely to experience poorer care and inequalities who are less likely to give their feedback.
CQC and Healthwatch 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.
Chris Dzikiti, Director of Mental Health, said: “People have the right to feedback about their experiences of the health and social care services and we want them to feel safe and secure to do so. The care system must get better at encouraging people to feedback and taking positive action as a result. We need people's experiences to understand the quality being provided and develop a clear picture of their care, and challenge the poor care where we find it.
“Over half of people (52%) surveyed said they see giving feedback as a form of generosity, and 62% of people said they would be more likely to give feedback if they knew doing so would help make positive change and support their local community including local public services. Through our new campaign Share for Better Care, we want to encourage people to extend their generosity to giving their valuable feedback where it counts most, their care, so together we can drive improvements in health and adult social care services and make a real difference."
Louise Ansari, Chief Executive at Healthwatch England said: "Public feedback on care is vital in helping NHS and social care staff identify and tackle safety and quality issues. But these findings make clear that some people do not feel able to share their experiences. We need to change this...All too often, we find some services have overlooked the needs of specific communities because their experiences are either not known about or have been overlooked. The simple act of sharing feedback can help change this and enable services to improve care for you, your family and your community.’’
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.’’
How people can share their care experiences:
Website: https://www.cqc.org.uk/give-feedback-on-care
Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Text Relay: https://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us/general-enquiries/get-help-contacting-us-if-youre-deaf-or-hard-hearing
Phone: 03000 616161 interpreter services available
Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
