Do you know that you can give feedback on NHS care?

News - 2 February 2016

Many people don’t quite know how to provide feedback on the care they have received from the NHS, but it’s incredibly important to have your say so you can help shape and improve your local services.
Woman with a Healthwatch lanyard and clipboard speaking to a member of the public outside

Many people don’t quite know how to provide feedback on the care they have received from the NHS, but it’s incredibly important to have your say so you can help shape and improve your local services.

Whether you’re seen in hospital, by a GP, by your dentist or by a paramedic, you can have your say on your care.

The NHS Friends and Family Test gives you the chance to provide quick, anonymous feedback on your care and treatment experience. All you have to do is ask to fill out a Friends and Family Test card in NHS hospitals, GP practices and dental practices, and you can say what went well and what you think can be improved. This feedback will go straight to the people who have provided the service so they can take your views into account.

It makes a real difference. For example, The Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust received a wide range of feedback from patients about their hospital stays. In response, the hospital has put in place a series of changes, which include:

• Providing Wi-Fi around the site, so that patients can entertain themselves and stay in contact with their family and friends via social media
• extending visiting hours for patients’ partners
• buying reclining chairs for the comfort of relatives who need to stay overnight with a very sick patient

Your feedback really can help to make a difference to patients’ lives. To find out more about the NHS Friends and Family Test please visit www.nhs.uk/friendsandfamily

Leave feedback on our website here

Watch the NHS Friends and Family test video here

See the BSL version here

Watch the putting NHS mental healthcare to the test… the Friends and Family Test video here

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