In my last post, I rashly challenged someone to show me online comments about care homes. I called and the internet answered, in the form the lovely Best Care Home,who show the best of care homes, by encouraging positive reviews about CQC 3star rated care homes. As Debbie says“it is about time we heard some positive news about [care homes]”.
This got me thinking… What is the advantageof having critical feedback about care homes? Or, rather, what is feedback for?At Patient Opinion we feel that our aim in healthcare is to facilitate changethrough getting just the right patient story to just the right person in theNHS. This change would not be possible if it wasn’t for the stories having acritical element. Increasingly, this is how public services are changing,through service users donating their experience, to make a difference foreveryone else. The patient is a becoming a co-creator of the service.
So, is there a difference for privatesector organisations like care homes? Both care homes and NHS hospitals areoften demonised by the media, both are plagued by funding issues, and choice isan issue for both. So… the difference? The care home sector is in constantbalance between care and money. The majority of care homes are privatecompanies, with reputations to manage. An understandable fear is that criticalpublic feedback will impact on negatively on their reputation, and then impacton the number of future residents. Maybe the difference isn’t so great then –as hospitals have a reputation to manage, and wish to attract patients.
Which leaves me wondering, what are theoptions for care homes, when faced with online feedback? The options are: sue anyonewho allows people to write critical comments, or choose to engage with theseconcerns online. It’s not an easy path to follow, but embracing thetransformative power of the web might allow care homes to discover a new placein the 21st Century.