Patient Opinion has grown from start up (Jan 05) into an organisation that is 100% supported by subscriptions from NHS and other organisations. There are now over 100 organisations participating in Patient Opinion and over the next few months we will begin accetping postings about mental health trusts, ambulance trusts, and directly provided PCT services (District Nurses etc) across England.

Patient Opinion is also exploring how patient feedback can be used by a wide range of groups including over 30 national patient organisations, a small groups of MPs, Scrutiny Commitees and emerging LINks organisations.

We believe Patient Opinion's on-going commitment to learning how best to use the new tools fo the web to further local engagement and discussion around health is unique and likley to yield significant results and some deep insights into how best to use these new techniques to expand civil society.

Patient Opinion's innovative track record has been the main topic discussed in articles in both the Guardian and the Economist.

Nominated by Paul Hodgkin, 18 February 2008

The independent service that Patient Opinion provides is unique. This is a much needed social service for patients to feedback their experiences of care in the NHS. This is a fantastic example of the simple but effective uses of new internet technologies, to let the public begin to dictate change. Patients feel heard, the NHS is able to take this feedback on board and there is a structured internet dialogue between the two.

Nominated by Kate Ebbutt, 18 February 2008

They deserve the award because the service is truly independent of the health care system (and commercial interests) and seeks to bring users and providers closer together with the aim of ensuring the experience of the ordinary patient is validated.

Nominated by John Knights, 18 February 2008

It's set up in an exemplary spirit of public service. It does something that simply was not possible before the advent of the contempory internet, and it does it in an exemplary way. It has no ego and no agenda of its own. The purpose is to improve our NHS with raw stories of user experience. It therefore has an authentic "voice" which has been lacking in all discussion of the NHS and strategic planning about the NHS. Also, what Patient Opinion does is a forerunner of what we need for other public services: local government, welfare, social services, immigration, policing etc

Nominated by wmheath, 18 February 2008

It has a really useful purpose and extremely dedicated and ethical staff. It is particularly useful because it is independent of the NHS, which regards it as a competitor, and is valued by its clients for the professional objectivity of its staff. Hospitals often find it difficult to respond positively to patient feedback, because it is often couched in the form of complaints, with possible legal implications. Patient Opoinion finds ways of getting around this problem and is valued because many odf its staff are medically trained and they have no axes to grind.

Nominated by don young, 18 February 2008

It is the best example I know of using technology to empower patients.

Nominated by Martin Rathfelder, 20 February 2008

It is a brilliant example of the gift economy and if promoted by the NHS and supported by them would be a far more effective and patient friendly way of collecting qualitative data about patient experience and needsd than any of the managerial devised questionnaires, surveys and projects so beloved of the NHS.

this really does put the patient at the centre by offering a free confidential website where patients and their carers can emphasise what matters to them, and also give praise as well as thoughtful comments and criticisms.

it is in the public domain so that local people can monitor and see how responsive their local services really are

Nominated by Christina Funnell, 04 March 2008

Patient Opinion, the independent web service where patients, carers and staff can share stories of care at any acute hospital across England, continues to make innovations. This year it has:

• Begun covering a much wider the range of services (mental health users, hospices, and some community services).

• Achieved a four fold increase in NHS organisations subscribing to our services

• Begun supplying more than 30 patient groups, some MPs and a few of the new LINks with email alerts so that they too can monitor what patients are saying by condition, constituency or Local Authority area.

• Started rating every posting for ‘criticality’ so helping busy staff listen to select the postings most in need of further action.

As hospitals and PCTs learn how to use this new from of web-based feedback, so the number of responses rises and with it the number of service improvements made as a direct result of patient suggestion.

Patient Opinion does not carry any advertising and so is free from pressure to drive site stats up at all cost. Instead Patient Opinion’s subscription based service concentrates on organic growth, working with each subscribing community to generate a balanced stream of postings and helping busy staff turn suggestions into improvements. The result is more postings from deprived post codes and from people without internet access plus a steady growing stream of service improvements documented on site.

Nominated by Paul Hodgkin, 29 April 2008

The web has democratised voice – anyone can blog, or post a picture of a dirty NHS toilet on the web. But having a voice is not the same as being heard. To turn this cacophony into better services ‘voice’ must mesh with the needs of busy managers and hard pressed Trusts. Patient Opinion is a national web platform where patients can have public structured conversations with hospitals about micro aspects of services. This gives a new power to the patient voice and new transparency to how services respond.

This year Patient Opinion has continued to innovate by:

• Covering a much wider the range of services (mental health users, hospices, and some community services).

• Achieving a four fold increase in NHS organisations subscribing to our services

• Supplying more than 30 patient groups, some MPs and a few of the new LINks with email alerts so that they too can monitor what patients are saying by condition, constituency or Local Authority area.

• Starting to rate every posting for ‘criticality’ so helping busy staff listen to select the postings most in need of further action.

As hospitals and PCTs learn how to use this new from of web-based feedback, so the number of responses rises and with it the number of service improvements made as a direct result of patient suggestion.

Patient Opinion does not carry any advertising and so is free from pressure to drive site stats up at all cost. Instead Patient Opinion’s subscription based service concentrates on organic growth, working with each subscribing community to generate a balanced stream of postings and helping busy staff turn suggestions into improvements. The result is more postings from deprived post codes and from people without internet access plus a steady growing stream of service improvements documented on site.

Nominated by Paul Hodgkin, 29 April 2008

Its a smart use of technology to give patients a voice, and they are pioneers in this arena in the UK.

It is constantly evolving to provide the best service for the many different groups connected to the health service, as well as patients.

The fact that it remains independent means that it sustains its credible identity as its network gets bigger.

Submitted by Rebecca King, 04 March 2008

Congratulations to the Patient Opinion team!

Submitted by Stuart G Hall, 03 July 2008