Person-centred care: advice for non-executive board members

Increased Use of Care Opinion Driving Change

Which of the five ‘Must Do With Me’ principles does this relate to?

The Scottish Government continues to support NHS Boards’ engagement with Care Opinion. This independent website provides a safe, anonymous route through which people can feed back about their experience of care – whether good or bad – and engage in constructive dialogue with services about how things can be improved. It also provides an important route through which NHS Staff can hear how their work has been valued and appreciated by members of the public. 

With over 15,000 stories now posted about people’s experience of care in Scotland, Care opinion has become an important source of information about what really matters to people about health and social care services across Scotland, what they think works well and what could be better. By listening to the stories, staff working at all levels can take action to provide the care and support people really want.

Total Stories Posted April 2013 to March 2019

The Scottish Government awarded a contract in April 2015 which provided for every territorial NHS Board in Scotland, and relevant Special Board, to be fully registered with the service until 31 March 2018. A new contract, managed by NHS National Services Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, came into effect on 1 April 2018 and will expire on 31 March 2020, with an option to extend by a further two years. for up to three years from April 2015. A comprehensive package of support is available to boards and we are exploring ways to enhance and further develop the use of the site.

Word cloud of improvement themes from Care Opinion in 2018/19:

Since April 2015, NHS staff have been able to show that over 280 changes to services have been made or planned as a result of stories posted on Care Opinion.