‘Review culture’ is on the rise, yet only one in ten feed back on health services.

People are nearly four times more likely to share their thoughts on a dinner out or takeaway than on NHS services, according to a new survey. 

New research highlights how widespread the culture of reviewing products and services is now in England. When polled, 84% of adults said they would likely leave a review if they had a positive or negative experience.   

The top five areas where people typically post reviews are: 

• Going out for a meal or drink, or getting a takeaway (41%) 

• Experience of ordering products online (28%)  

• A hotel stay (25%)  

• A visit to a tourist attraction (23%)  

• A book they have recently read (15%)  

On average, the respondents said they would spend eight to ten minutes sharing these reviews. Online review forums and product websites are the most likely ways people would share their views.   

Yet when asked if they would provide feedback after visiting their doctor, nurse or another healthcare professional - just one in ten (11%) people said yes.  

Patient feedback can enable the NHS to spot issues and identify where services may need more resource or other support. It can also help address inequalities in access to care, the extent of which has been laid bare by the pandemic. 

With NHS and social care services under pressure, Healthwatch England calls on more people to tell the NHS when they are doing a good job and when services can be improved.  

Commenting, Louise Ansari, National Director of Healthwatch England, said: 

"There has been a massive rise in ‘review culture’, which, if harnessed, could make a real difference to local NHS and social care services. 

"Feedback about what is and isn’t working plays a crucial role in helping care services spot issues and understand how they can improve quality, safety, and efficiency. With doctors and nurses hard-pressed, positive feedback can be a real boost for morale.  

"So next time you use a health or care service, take a moment to share your experience. It won't take long and could make a real difference in making care better for you and your community." 

Health and care services need to clarify the use of feedback 

The research also found that health and care services could generate more public feedback by clarifying that any shared experience is welcome and won't negatively impact people's care.  

When asked what the most significant barriers were that stopped people from sharing feedback on health and social care services, the most popular reasons were: 

• Being worried it would harm the quality of their care (20%) 

• Not wanting to cause problems for health and care workers (20%) 

• Not knowing how to feedback (18%) 

The power of public feedback

The research comes as the Healthwatch network of 152 services marks its tenth anniversary. The public health and care champion is celebrating its anniversary across the country by thanking everyone who has shared their care experiences, and the professionals who have acted on feedback since Healthwatch started work in 2013. 

Examples of how we use people’s feedback 

Over the past ten years, Healthwatch has used people's experiences to identify areas for improvement in NHS settings. They’ve used this feedback to strengthen health and care services in communities across England. For example: 

• Rebecca from Staffordshire who helped the NHS save money and improve orthotic services nationally – ensuring children can access support quickly.  

• George from Buckinghamshire whose feedback led to birthing partners having better communication during labour. 

• Maggie from Cornwall who courageously spoke up about her husband’s end of life care, showing services how they could learn from the experience.  

• Tony from Durham who helped make it easier to find care home information after his own struggles finding a care home for his mum.  

• Errol from Bristol who encouraged men from the Afro-Caribbean community to take up lifesaving prostate cancer screenings.

About the survey   

This online survey of 1000 adults in England was commissioned by Care Quality Commission and  Healthwatch England and conducted by market research company OnePoll, in accordance with the Market Research Society's code of conduct. Data was collected between 16/12/2022 and 21/12/2022. All participants are double-opted in to take part in research and are paid an amount depending on the length and complexity of the survey. This survey was overseen and edited by the OnePoll research team, who are members of the MRS and have corporate membership to ESOMAR.