10,000 MORE Voices: health service wants to hear from you
The Public Health Agency (PHA) and Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) are expanding the successful 10,000 Voices health service improvement programme.
Having reached the landmark target of 10,000 views on how health and social care is delivered in Northern Ireland, the programme is building on that success and seeking 10,000 More Voices.
The initiative, which was first launched in 2013, is a way for the public to be involved in shaping the way health and social care services are commissioned and delivered across Northern Ireland and acknowledges that patient and client contribution is fundamental to ensuring that services are commissioned to deliver better outcomes for patients, their families and carers.
Mary Hinds, Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professions at the PHA, said: “Reaching 10,000 Voices is a significant milestone in our journey of continual improvement, and I thank all those who engaged with the programme.
“Many of the stories we have received highlighted that for the majority of people, their health and social care experience is a positive one, so it is important that we share this with the staff. As well as this, many of the responses have enabled us to identify opportunities for learning and areas for action.
“These are the very reasons that we are now launching 10,000 More Voices. The information helps direct how we improve the experiences of people using these services.”
From the personal stories received through 10,000 Voices a number of key areas which matter to people in their health and social care were identified:
- Having access to the right treatment and information at the right time
- Feeling reassured when anxious and being listened to
- Being treated with compassion and respect
- Feeling safe and having confidence in staff
- Being kept updated with what is happening in their care journey/episode
- Having a balance of independence and support
Launching 10,000 More Voices, Chief Nursing Officer Professor Charlotte McArdle, said: “It is essential that we have the right processes in place to enable us to listen and learn from voices across all areas of health and social care. The details we gather of the experiences of those who use our services will assist us in driving forward innovation and improvement across the sector.
“The aims and outcomes of the programme align with Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together’ and the report produced by Professor Bengoa which outlines adopting a partnership approach to enable the co-production and co-design of a reconfigured and transformed health and social care system. This is a further step to ensuring Personal and Public involvement through co production.
“10,000 More Voices is also in line with other initiatives taking place across the UK, for example the ‘What Matters To You?’ campaign, which encourages and supports more meaningful conversations between people who provide care and the people, families and carers who receive it.”
Patient stories have been collected through the 10,000 Voices initiative from a number of areas, including unscheduled care, nursing and midwifery care, care at home, paediatric autism, and child and adolescent mental health services.
Over the coming months a particular focus will be on collecting and analysing details relating to hospital discharge, delirium, bereavement and neurology reviews from people who use our services.
However if you have an experience relating to any other aspect of health and social care there is also an opportunity for you to share it at any time.
For more information and to get involved, please visit the PHA website. The survey is available to complete at www.10000morevoices.hscni.net.
Notes to editor:
Outcomes of the 10,000 More Voices programme will be used:
- to improve experience and inform quality improvements at a local level
- to inform commissioning of services and regional policies in education and training to highlight what matters to people in their health and social care experience.
Pic caption: Chief Nursing Officer Professor Charlotte McArdle [holding cake] with, Christine Armstrong, Regional Lead for 10,000 Voices programme [middle]; and Mary McElroy Safety Quality and Patient Client Experience Lead at the Public Health Agency [right].