CQC Feedback – Why is Feedback Important in Health and Social Care
Feedback in health and social care is often overlooked. When it comes to understanding the experiences, perspectives and needs of people drawing on support, caregivers and regulatory bodies, nothing can compare to care feedback. In England, CQC feedback forms are the cornerstone of continuous improvement and quality assurance in care, so should be taken advantage of.
Good communication in health and social care is the first step to developing good relationships with people and generating consistent feedback that can be used to praise your team or motivate them to change and improve the care your service offers. It’s also key to promoting empowerment in health and social care, which gives people in your care the feeling of control and autonomy over their lives.
We at The Access Group have been working with care services across the country for over 30 years, providing them with high-quality digital services, support and information to help them succeed. We have put this article together along with other useful resources to help you understand feedback in health and social care, its importance and how you can use feedback to improve your quality of care.
What is Feedback in Health and Social Care?
Care feedback covers a diverse array of expressions, ranging from formal assessments to informal comments and suggestions. As a care service, you should obtain feedback so you can fully understand what people, family members, staff teams and other stakeholders think about what you do. Asking the right questions will help you see your service through other people’s eyes.
Understanding how you can improve your care is just as important, if not more important than how you perform well. Feedback in care means people have a voice and should feel comfortable in communicating their experiences, concerns and expectations. Feedback can be gathered through various channels, including interviews, surveys, complaint mechanisms and care home feedback forms.
Why is Feedback Important in Health and Social Care?
The importance of feedback in health and social care should never be overlooked. Care feedback serves as a powerful tool for driving continuous improvement, informing policy decisions and safeguarding the well-being of individuals. Other reasons why feedback is so important include:
- Quality assurance and improvement – Feedback can be used to measure the quality of a service as it offers valuable insights into areas of strength and areas that need improvement. When feedback is analysed correctly, care providers can identify the gaps in service delivery, address deficiencies and implement the right methods to enhance the overall quality of care.
- Empowering service users – Care patient feedback empowers people drawing on care by giving them a platform to voice their concerns, preferences and needs. Whether it’s through satisfaction surveys or informal discussions with providers, soliciting feedback enables service users to actively participate in decisions that affect their health and well-being, giving them a sense of dignity and autonomy.
- Accountability and transparency – Care feedback plays a vital role in holding care providers accountable for their actions and ensuring transparency in service delivery. Regulatory bodies (e.g. CQC in England, CIW in Wales, The Care Inspectorate in Scotland and RQIA in Northern Ireland) rely on feedback from people receiving care and inspections to assess compliance with standards, identify areas of non-compliance and take the appropriate actions when necessary.
- Cultivating a culture of continuous learning – Feedback fuels a culture of continuous learning and professional development among care providers. By encouraging open communication and constructive feedback loops, care services can create environments where staff feel empowered to reflect on their practice, learn from mistakes and implement best practices to improve the quality of care.
Examples of Feedback in Health and Social Care
It can be easy to highlight the importance of feedback and the positive impact it can have on your care service, but to make things even clearer for you, below are some examples of feedback in different areas of health and social care.
- Care home feedback form – Care homes often use structured feedback forms to gather information from residents and their families regarding various aspects of care, including the responsiveness of staff, cleanliness and overall satisfaction. This feedback is invaluable when it comes to identifying areas that need improvement and adjusting a service to meet the diverse needs of their service users.
- CQC inspection feedback – The CQC carries out regular inspections of health and social care services and assesses their compliance with regulatory standards. Through these inspections, the CQC gathers feedback from people who rely on care, staff and other stakeholders to evaluate the quality of care provided and to identify areas that could be improved.
- Service user feedback mechanisms – Many health and social care services implement formal tools to collect feedback from people in their care. These may include suggestion boxes, online service and dedicated feedback helplines. These tools allow service users to provide input on their experiences, raise concerns and offer suggestions to improve the delivery of a service.
Feedback in Health and Social Care
Care feedback is essential for quality improvement and accountability in health and social care. From empowering people drawing on support to pushing positive changes, feedback plays an important role in shaping the delivery of care in a service. Embracing feedback allows care providers to create an environment that prioritises the well-being of individuals and is a powerful driver of positive change.
For English providers, we have more information on CQC inspection feedback with our guide on Feedback in care. This will provide you with the guidance you need to succeed. Here, you can see what CQC feedback looks like in practice, the difference between domiciliary and care home feedback and how this will be assessed under the new quality statements.
Keeping on top of all the changes can be tough, so here at Access we have compiled all the need-to-know information to help you navigate the expectations and requirements of CQC registration and compliance. If you want to stay up-to-date with all things CQC, sign up here to access the latest guides and upcoming webinar dates.
The Access group also has a fantastic selection of health, support and social care software that has been developed to give you the freedom to do more. Our portfolio of integrated solutions empowers professionals within the care sector to help them deliver joined-up quality and preventative care.
One component of our award-winning software is Access e-learning for care. Here, you can find many useful courses, including communication training that can improve the habits and attitude of your service providers which can lead to the generation of positive feedback.
For more information about our health and social care e-learning platform, watch our demo or contact us and speak to a friendly member of our team.
