Your Story Counts- Working together with Healthwatch

Care Opinion places great value in our work with Healthwatch organisations  across the country.   We have seen social media exploding with Healthwatches talking about the “It starts with you” campaign recently . At Care Opinion, we get excited to see more and more people sharing their story about their Health and Social Care experience. Since 2005, we have been a place where people can share feedback safely and transparently . Stories posted on Care Opinion directly support service and quality improvements– changes everyone can see due to the public nature of online feedback. 

 I recently looked at the way 30 different Healthwatches engage with people online, the kinds of projects they are focusing on, and how they collect stories.  For example, the focus can range from hospital discharge issues to healthcare for the  LGBTQ+ community and I hope that Healthwatches working more closely  with Care Opinion,  will result in more people contributing their story.

With nearly  200,000 stories told on Care Opinion, that’s a lot of voices being heard. Using our search tools, you can focus on different themes within local services, and create reports about a multitude of services and care pathways. 

Healthwatches working with Care opinion are sharing their collected stories and facilitating patients and service users to tell their story and receive a response from the service. Having public feedback creates changes in relationships, learning, culture, and trust, which is great for everyone!  Sharing stories on social media engages people from all different communities, adding to the great work Healthwatches are currently doing.

We provide organisations with a resource pack for collecting stories, and step by step guidance for adding them onto the site, along with our new materials. Additionally, supporting volunteers in collecting stories has proven a great way to engage with people in the community, as well as collecting feedback.

Helping with generating stories, our story widget can easily be embedded on your own site and even has a Healthwatch theme! This helps people share their feedback, as well as see other stories from across the region. 

Care Opinion is used by hundreds of organisations across the UK, including educators and researchers, and has an international reputation.

Online feedback doesn't have to be expensive. A Healthwatch subscription to Care Opinion costs just £495 per annum plus vat.