Patient and Care Opinion Community Update

Dear Care and Patient Opinion Colleagues,

How are you all as the wind down to Christmas begins? There is so much happening in our “little” office it’s hard to keep up, so here’s a quick update to keep you all in the loop.

I realised lately that many of you may only see Patient or Care Opinion through your email links (single stories). I’ve tried below to give you an idea of how rich the site is in terms of connecting to the very real and human experience of healthcare – both in the receiving and the giving. It is a privilege to be involved with each of you.

1.         FIRSTLY, congratulations to our UK colleagues and pioneers of Patient and Care Opinion who have just celebrated their 10TH ANNIVERSARY. They continue to grow and influence and have just released their 10th Anniversary Report “The Power of Connection”  https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/resources/blog-resources/1-files/patient-opinion-10-year-report.pdf – it’s a great read – I loved this quote: “Patient Opinion makes it safe, simple and effective for patients and carers to give feedback about their health care, and for health service providers to respond to and make use of feedback for service improvement. The result is issues resolved, relationships restored, complaints avoided and services improved, all in real-time and at low cost, right across the country….PO is living proof that it is possible to build a platform which avoids the trolls, is not unremittingly negative, and really does create concrete improvements, changing how busy, stressed staff think about patients. Wonderfully intimate conversations abound on PO. Not only that: people are measured, courteous and thoughtful. I am always amazed and humbled by the fact that swearing in stories submitted to Patient Opinion is vanishingly rare. Even when people are justifiably angry they mostly still want to help” WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE THE SAME ON OUR AUSSIE VERSION –  
2. PATIENT AND CARE OPINION AUSTRALIA reached 1,000 stories on the 23rd of October…it hasn’t stopped since, with Eastern Health hitting 126 stories and over 37,000 views and Townsville HHS breaking the record for stories in one day with 10 stories in 24 hours on their first day and 30 in their first month thereafter! Both these organisations not only have inspiring stories but inspiring and intensely human responses to their stories. Have a look if you are ever “stuck for words” when crafting a response. They demonstrate PO / CO goes well beyond “complaints” and even “feedback” to REAL ENGAGEMENT with their community. Have a look at Townsville’s composite of stories (attached) – a great way to MOTIVATE teams to gather stories! We love it!
3. As the Mental Health agenda heats up and looks to more “regionally relevant and appropriate” care – PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THESE STORIES TO HELP YOU INFLUENCE AND ADVOCATE FOR YOUR SERVICES AND YOUR REGION (or add your own!) – Local mental health services change (and in some cases, SAVE) lives.
   1. There is a great example of this with our new subscribers "Lives Lived Well" - it is inspiring to see what this wonderful organisation achieves and the changes it makes to people’s lives in the area of addiction services and rehabilitation – again, lovely, personal and connected responses in near real time….take a look.
   2. Wonderfully pragmatic strategies to address the issue of homelessness can be found in this story: Housing Services; Northern Sydney Family and Community Services from new subscribers Northern Sydney District of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.
4. Another Care Opinion subscriber with stories of inspiration, determination and courage is Multicap – the stories provide real insight into both the experience of receiving care and the gift of providing care – as Paul Hodgkin (PO Founder) says “wonderfully intimate conversations” - these will be invaluable as the National Disability Insurance Scheme is rolled out (and informed!)
5.         FINALLY, Michael (our CEO) has asked me to share this blog from the UK about "The Secret to Receiving Feedback"  - We are always looking for new ideas, and hopefully this will give you some.

        One final bit of news is that I will be winding up my role as Client Liaison for PO / CO in December. My own business has grown over the last year and I am heading off to tend and nurture that – and the clients I’ve gathered along the way. I will remain involved in using your stories to energise and inspire my clients. We have found a gentle and competent woman to replace me, her name is Sue Palmer. She has a background in both health and education so will bring some great skills to supporting you. She is already working and so you may hear from her in the next little while. Again, can I wish you a happy and safe festive season….keep up the wonderful work that you do. Warm regards, Jane (for Michael, Julie, Craig, Zelka, Sue and Jess)

Jane Stanfield

Client Liaison

Patient and Care Opinion Australia

t: +617-33544525 or 1300 662 996 f: +617-33557047 m: 0402 0123 97