We created Care Opinion to give service users a seamless way of sharing feedback about their care and treatment, across both health and social care.
We want service users to be able to talk about their experiences of care, without needing to be aware of differing institutional priorities and the ideological or practical differences that often occur across health and social care services. Service users need services that don’t argue between themselves or send conflicting messages. They should expect professionals to work together to meet their needs.
While there is not one ideal model of care co-ordination, evidence suggests that, where appropriate, joint commissioning between health and social care achieves better results than a singular commissioning approach.
Whether a service user uses Patient Opinion or Care Opinion, their feedback is moderated and published in just the same way, and shared on both sites. Subscribing organisations can respond and report on this feedback using either site.
For the first time, CQC registered providers have the opportunity to generate and see online feedback about their services. Making this feedback clearly visible in this way will help providers, commissioners and other stakeholders see what works, and what needs to change, within and across services.
One area of work we’re excited about is hearing the experience of care home residents, about the home and health care services. This should improve the visibility of care pathways for older people and provide valuable learning for all those involved in the assessment and provision of their services.
Care Opinion is alive and kicking in England now.
Integrating the Health and Social Care conversation
Integrating the Health and Social Care conversation https://www.careopinion.org.uk../../resources/integration.png Care Opinion 0114 281 6256 https://www.careopinion.org.uk /content/uk/images/logos/co-header-logo-2020-default.pngUpdate from Care Opinion (social care)
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Response from Paul Hodgkin, Chair, Patient Opinion on 25 Mar 2014 at 16:42
When we built Care Opinion as a fully integrated part of Patient Opinion we thought we would get lots of stories about integration - and its lack.
And we have.
What we didn't expect is that Care Opinion would give staff in the adult social care sector a new way of being heard. So it is great to get stories from managers who are using their new voice on Care Opinion on behalf of their vulnerable residents.
This story is from the manager of a care home asking that any INR results from her residents on warfarin to be faxed through to her staff rather than simply phoned through. That way there would be a hard copy and fewer mistakes in this important area of care.
So its not just the user's voice that matters. As it says in our logo - 'Every Voice Matters'
Response from Andrew Crooks, Engagement & Support Officer, Sheffield, Care Opinion on 25 Mar 2014 at 18:57
Great wee piece Ben and Tim – as you know I use health and social care services here in Sheffield myself and just though I’d say that I have had great help from a Case Management Service made up of 4 Case Managers and Administration Support who work with people who have a Long Term Neurological Condition.
This service helps me keep tabs on my current and future needs and helps with referrals to other services, which can be a bit of nightmare for a busy working person. But it has helped me identify all the different people involved in my care and who to contact and stuff. I was able to include this in my care plan so others know who to contact too.
As a result it has really improved my experience of health and social care in the city and is starting to help staff and carers from both sides of my care.
They accept referrals from clients registered with a Sheffield GP, who are aged 16 years and over and with a diagnosis of a Long Term Neurological Condition, which can be acquired from birth (eg cerebral palsy), a brain injury or a degenerative disease eg Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson's Disease etc
Referrals can be made directly to the service by a health or social care professional, a client's family member or carer with consent from the client, or by the client themselves. I managed to self refer over the telephone.
This service is delivered by Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust and so big thanks to the 'LTNCMS' from me to them.
Sheffield’s NHS organisations and the City Council are also developing integrated services through their The Right Care, Right Time, Right place partnership which, I understand, is particularly focusing on transforming and improving the way older people receive healthcare and also those patients who have long term illnesses such as diabetes, heart failure and dementia.
It's really exciting for me as a disabled person with a long term condition finally seeing real joined up working that can focus on the outcomes of people like me who can then break down the barriers we have to independent living. But that’s not to say joined up working is a new thing and there have been many pioneering bits of work here in Sheffield and all over the UK.
Maybe now though the time has come to look at joint commissioning to deliver better outcomes. I am sure both Patient Opinion and Care Opinion will be used as an enabling tool for commissioners and decision makers in health and social care to help them include the views and feedback of patients, service users and carers. Especially amongst the 14 DH Integration Pioneers who can hopefully introduce new methods to add to the good work we see here in Sheffield and other Towns and Cities.