Care Opinion exists to help make sure that constructive public feedback is used to make health and social care be the best it can be. We want to have strong, positive relationships with patients, service users, carers and care providers alike.
Outside the NHS, care provider organisations can be extremely diverse. Some are large corporations, while others are small organisations of just a few people, or even just one person. They may be public, private or third sector.
Because of this diversity, providers may take very different views of public feedback about their service. Some may welcome feedback and others may regard it as a threat. A provider that feels threatened may react by trying to stop Care Opinion from publishing feedback, perhaps by legal means.
What we're trying to achieve
We think that involving providers in our publication process will help our relationships with providers to be positive and constructive, and reduce the risk of legal action.
We are optimistic that the way we involve providers will encourage greater transparency in social care.
We know there are risks in our approach, and we have tried to design a system which will be seen as fair and balanced by everyone involved.
We are still in the early days but it seems to be working ok. We’re always open to feedback and improvements as we go along and to sharing what we learn.