Using NHS Choices
Correct as of August 2011
The social media boom, combined with the government’s heavy focus on patient choice, has made web-based communication impossible to ignore. Many members have raised concerns about the consequences of patients using social media to comment on their services. MPS believes that members can use websites like NHS Choices, to their advantage by adopting a constructive approach rather than a defensive one.
Background
We will require hospitals to be open about mistakes and always tell patients if something has gone wrong
“We will enable patients to rate hospitals and doctors according to the quality of care they received, and we will require hospitals to be open about mistakes and always tell patients if something has gone wrong.” – Coalition agreement (May 2010)
NHS Choices feedback service
The service was set up two years ago and allows the public to post comments about their experience of individual NHS hospitals and GP practices in England. The service aims to help patients make informed decisions about their healthcare and help providers assess their level of service, in order to make changes where necessary.
Scale of traffic
- 4 million visits a month to NHS Choices are for NHS services.
- 1 million visits are for GP practice information.
- More than 60,000 comments are present on the site.
- 25,000+ GP practice ratings and comments published.
- 1,500 comments published each month on average.
- 90% of practices have at least one rating or comment.
- 12% of practices have replied to a comment.
- 8% of comments rejected.
How the feedback service works
All comments are moderated before publication
- Users must leave an email address and verify it.
- There are six rating questions and three comment boxes.
- All comments are moderated before publication.
- Individual staff members are not named.
- Only anonymous/pseudonymous comments are allowed.
- NHS Choices cannot share who wrote specific comments, as it would breach data protection laws.
- When a comment is published, the NHS organisation who has received the comment is emailed.
- People giving feedback are not allowed to post further comments or respond to the provider’s reply. If this does happen it is possible to contact NHS Choices and have these comments removed.
Defamation and fair comment
All comments are moderated before publication and individual staff members are not named, and there is no reference to gender. Practices and hospitals have the right to reply to all comments. NHS Choices is not required to check whether each opinion is factually correct, nor is it a legal requirement that comments are entirely factually correct in order to be published. If a defendant can prove that the statement is an expression of opinion on a matter of public interest and not a statement of fact, he or she can rely on the defence of fair comment.
However, if you have concerns about the appropriateness of comments, contact MPS for advice on how the matter can be resolved.
Using feedback
If a comment is anonymous and negative, invite the commenter to discuss it and provide a named contact
- Take comments seriously and reply to all comments, good or bad.
- Personalise your replies and avoid ‘stock’ responses.
- Take anonymous comments as seriously as named ones. If a comment is anonymous and negative, invite the commenter to discuss it and provide a named contact.
- Welcome all opinions and try not to be defensive or aggressive if they are negative.
- NHS organisations can respond to most comments without breaching confidentiality.
- When responding to the comment state that patient confidentiality prevents you from going into detail, but that the commenter is welcome to meet to discuss the issues personally.
- Remember patients’ comments are opinions, not statements of fact.
- Patient feedback is completely separate from the official complaints process. If someone is following that process, they are still entitled to leave feedback.
- Promote online feedback, especially to ‘frequent fliers’.
- Use comments to help develop your services. Share them with staff.
- Never forget the importance of good customer service.
- Your response will be seen by everyone who reads your practice’s comments. Your reply is a good way to market your practice.