The importance of feedback in complex care and why it matters

Whether it’s positive, negative or constructive – feedback matters.

It’s the basis for understanding, open and honest conversations, positive change, and learning opportunities – particularly in complex care where it’s imperative we get care right.

We send out quarterly surveys to our service users, their families, staff, healthcare professionals, and everyone involved in our service users’ care, continuously seeking feedback through questions and ratings.

It’s a Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirement to seek feedback as all services should drive continuous improvement.

We focus on the CQC’s five key indicators – Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led.

Questions around these important points help us to understand what we’re doing well and identify any areas for improvement.

The service users we support are at the centre of everything we do, and feedback gives us the chance to learn and develop.

The surveys we send out specifically apply to the individual they are sent to, covering the care and support being delivered.

Ultimately, our service users are experts in their own experiences.

One of the key points we ask our service users to give us a rating on is about whether they feel safe and protected by staff, and if they have as much freedom as possible to do what they want to do.

They rate us from one to four, with one being poor and four being outstanding.

We analyse every survey and look at what our average rating is, acting on the feedback.

If there are any common points with room for improvement, we immediately look at how we can improve and build on this.

It’s vital that our service users feel valued and respected. They are receiving care in their own homes and we listen to what they want.

It’s also crucial to encourage staff to share their views and create an open and honest culture, contributing their thoughts and ideas to potentially improve our services.

We recently shared more about this in our blog on why an open door culture matters in health and social care – https://mycaring.co.uk/why-an-open-door-culture-matters-in-health-and-social-care/

Equally, it’s important to understand that feedback doesn’t always have to be formal.

It can be a suggestion, a compliment, or a quick conversation at any point – it’s all valid and provides valuable insight.

It’s powerful and helps to strengthen relationships, shaping a better service and supporting staff development.

We’re listening, and we’ll continue to do so, because we know how incredibly important feedback is.