Quality standard
Quality statement 4: Using people's views to improve services
Quality statement 4: Using people's views to improve services
Quality statement
People using adult social care services have their views used to inform service improvement.
Rationale
Involving people in service improvement by obtaining and acting on feedback about their experience and how they would like the service to operate means that services can be more responsive to the people using them and adapt to their needs. It can help identify barriers to accessing services and ensure that more people can use them.
Quality measures
Structure
a) Evidence of local arrangements to ask for feedback from people using adult social care services to inform service improvement.
Data source: Local data collection, for example records of individual and group meetings, surveys and comment forms.
b) Evidence of local arrangements to implement the single complaints statement and encourage people using adult social care services to use it (see Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman resources on the single complaints statement).
Data source: Local data collection, for example policies and initiatives on the single complaints statement and strategies for public involvement (see Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman resources on the single complaints statement).
c) Evidence of local arrangements for supporting people using adult social care services to provide feedback on their experience using services.
Data source: Local data collection, for example records of independent advocacy use.
d) Evidence of local arrangements for people who have provided feedback on adult social care services to be informed of improvements made as a result of their input.
Data source: Local data collection, for example records of meetings with people using services, and posters and leaflets explaining changes made as a result of feedback from people using services.
Process
Proportion of people using adult social care services who are asked to provide their opinion of a service.
Numerator – the number in the denominator who are asked to provide their opinion of a service.
Denominator – the number of people using adult social care services.
Data source: Local data collection, for example engagement records.
Outcome
a) Improvements to adult social care services which are informed by feedback from people using services.
Data source: Local data collection, for example surveys of people using services.
b) Satisfaction of people using adult social care services with the way their feedback has been used.
Data source: Local data collection, for example surveys of people using services.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Service providers (such as managers and owners of adult social care services and voluntary sector organisations) ensure that people using services are encouraged to voice their opinions and that their opinions are actively sought, for example through drop-in sessions and comment cards. Engagement and feedback from people using services is included in published reports, such as the annual report. Service providers give regular updates on ways that feedback from people using services has been considered and used to improve services, for example through group meetings, leaflets and posters.
Social care practitioners ensure that they support people using services to give feedback on services and that people feel safe to give such feedback. They can help to arrange independent advocacy if a person feels this would help them to express their views.
Commissioners (local authorities) ensure that they commission adult social care services that ask for feedback from people using the services to make improvements and report on how they have fed this back.
People using adult social care services have the opportunity to voice their opinions and these are taken into account when changes are being made to services. People receive feedback on how their opinions have influenced the changes and redesign of the services they use.
Source guidance
People's experience in adult social care services: improving the experience of care and support for people using adult social care services. NICE guideline NG86 (2018), recommendations 1.6.7 and 1.6.10
Definitions of terms used in this quality statement
People's views
The feedback provided by people using services, and their carers. This includes qualitative and quantitative data and can include:
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the lived experiences of people who use services
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information from voluntary organisations that represent people who use social care services, for example Healthwatch
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existing sources of information, such as Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman resources on the single complaints statement
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surveys and questionnaires of people using services and their carers
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information gathered through focus groups and meetings with people using services.
Different approaches to obtaining feedback and involving people who use services, and their carers, to improve services will be needed for different services. Agreement on how this will be done on a regular basis (for example annually) and before a significant change in a service or the development of a new one, can help ensure that improvements to services are made at the most suitable time.
[Adapted from NICE's guideline on people's experience in adult social care services, recommendation 1.6.4 and expert opinion]
Used to inform service improvement
This feedback is used to inform decisions about the way services are commissioned, run and governed and to check that services are delivering quality care and support. It can also be used when new services are being designed and to adapt existing services to be more responsive to the people using them.
[Adapted from NICE's guideline on people's experience in adult social care services, recommendation 1.6.1 and expert opinion]
Equality and diversity considerations
People using adult social care services may have several needs, for example help with communication. Services should ensure that people have the help they need, for example through an independent advocate or communication aid, to provide their feedback.
People should be provided with information that they can easily read and understand themselves, or with support, so that they can communicate effectively with health and social care services when providing feedback on services. The information should be in a format that suits their needs and preferences, for example Braille. It should be accessible to people who do not speak or read English, and it should be culturally and age appropriate. People should have access to an interpreter or independent advocate if needed.
For people with additional needs related to a disability, impairment or sensory loss, information should be provided as set out in NHS England's Accessible Information Standard.