Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts
Objectives Patients are increasingly reporting about their healthcare experiences online and NHS Trusts are adopting different approaches to responding. However, the sociocultural contexts underpinning these organisational approaches remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the sociocultural c...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Digital Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221129085 |
| _version_ | 1811341425351065600 |
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| author | Lauren Ramsey Rebecca Lawton Laura Sheard Jane O’Hara |
| author_facet | Lauren Ramsey Rebecca Lawton Laura Sheard Jane O’Hara |
| author_sort | Lauren Ramsey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives Patients are increasingly reporting about their healthcare experiences online and NHS Trusts are adopting different approaches to responding. However, the sociocultural contexts underpinning these organisational approaches remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the sociocultural contexts underpinning three organisations who adopted different approaches to responding to online patient feedback. Methods Recruitment of three NHS Trusts was theoretically guided, and determined based on their different approaches to responding to online patient feedback (a nonresponding organisation, a generic responding organisation and an organisation providing transparent, conversational responses). Ethnographic methods were used during a year of fieldwork involving staff interviews, observations of practice and documentary analysis. Three in-depth case studies are presented. Findings The first organisation did not respond to or use online patient feedback as staff were busy firefighting volumes of concerns received in other ways. The second organisation adopted a generic responding style due to resource constraints, fears of public engagement and focus on resolving known issues raised via more traditional feedback sources. The final organisation provided transparent, conversational responses to patients online and described a 10-year journey enabling their desired culture to be embedded. Conclusions We identified a range of barriers facing organisations who ignore or provide generic responses to patient feedback online. We also demonstrated the sociocultural context in which online interactions between staff and patients can be embraced to inform improvement. However, this represented a slow and difficult organisational journey. Further research is needed to better establish how organisations can recognise and overcome barriers to engaging with online patient feedback, and at pace. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:55:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7adf4559e36e41bbb16bb033ea2498e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2055-2076 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:55:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Digital Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-7adf4559e36e41bbb16bb033ea2498e82022-12-22T02:34:16ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762022-10-01810.1177/20552076221129085Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS TrustsLauren Ramsey0Rebecca Lawton1Laura Sheard2Jane O’Hara3 Yorkshire Quality and Safety Research Group, , Bradford, UK School of Psychology, , Leeds, UK Trials Unit, , York, UK School of Healthcare, , Leeds, UKObjectives Patients are increasingly reporting about their healthcare experiences online and NHS Trusts are adopting different approaches to responding. However, the sociocultural contexts underpinning these organisational approaches remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the sociocultural contexts underpinning three organisations who adopted different approaches to responding to online patient feedback. Methods Recruitment of three NHS Trusts was theoretically guided, and determined based on their different approaches to responding to online patient feedback (a nonresponding organisation, a generic responding organisation and an organisation providing transparent, conversational responses). Ethnographic methods were used during a year of fieldwork involving staff interviews, observations of practice and documentary analysis. Three in-depth case studies are presented. Findings The first organisation did not respond to or use online patient feedback as staff were busy firefighting volumes of concerns received in other ways. The second organisation adopted a generic responding style due to resource constraints, fears of public engagement and focus on resolving known issues raised via more traditional feedback sources. The final organisation provided transparent, conversational responses to patients online and described a 10-year journey enabling their desired culture to be embedded. Conclusions We identified a range of barriers facing organisations who ignore or provide generic responses to patient feedback online. We also demonstrated the sociocultural context in which online interactions between staff and patients can be embraced to inform improvement. However, this represented a slow and difficult organisational journey. Further research is needed to better establish how organisations can recognise and overcome barriers to engaging with online patient feedback, and at pace.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221129085 |
| spellingShingle | Lauren Ramsey Rebecca Lawton Laura Sheard Jane O’Hara Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts Digital Health |
| title | Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts |
| title_full | Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts |
| title_short | Exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice: In-depth case studies of three NHS Trusts |
| title_sort | exploring the sociocultural contexts in which healthcare staff respond to and use online patient feedback in practice in depth case studies of three nhs trusts |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221129085 |
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