Celebrating 1000 patient stories in Dumfries & Galloway

It is incredibly encouraging to see that more than 1,000 people in our community have shared their experiences on Care Opinion over the past 10 years. Reading these stories, with a significant percentage being positive, has been truly uplifting. To date, these stories have been read 555,770 times! Sharing this feedback with the staff and teams involved has had a real impact on morale, reminding us how much patients, carers, relatives, and families value the care they receive.

At the same time, Care Opinion has given people whose experiences didn’t meet their expectations a safe and supportive way to reach out. This has allowed us to connect them with our Patient Services team, understand their concerns more fully, and work together on providing a helpful response. It has also created important opportunities for us to reflect, learn, and improve our services in meaningful ways. 

We are delighted to be marking this achievement by highlighting it in our weekly SWAY newsletter, which reaches all staff, and celebrating it through our #OnTheGround website. We want to ensure the whole organisation recognises the significance of this milestone and the collective effort behind it.

The staff and teams who use Care Opinion have consistently expressed how valuable they find the platform. Many have shared positive feedback about how straightforward it is to view and understand the experiences contributed by patients and families. They appreciate having a clear, accessible way to see the impact of their work, as well as to learn from the stories shared.

When reviewing the stories, we noticed that a large proportion of them come from our Maternity and Paediatric teams. These areas receive a high level of engagement, and we’re grateful for the openness of families who take the time to share their experiences.

Several departments across the health board have expressed interest in becoming part of Care Opinion, and we are excited to support them in joining the platform over the coming year. Our aim is to widen the range of services collecting feedback, allowing even more patients and families to be heard. We look forward to helping these teams gather the same meaningful, insightful stories that have been so valuable elsewhere.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to every member of staff and every team who has embraced Care Opinion over the last decade. Most importantly, we want to express our sincere gratitude to the patients, relatives, and carers who have taken the time to share their stories. Your feedback, whether positive or constructive, has been invaluable. It has helped us celebrate what we do well, supported our learning, and guided us in improving the care we provide.

We are truly thankful.