Talk to CQC about the health and/or social care you receive and you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher *NOW CLOSED*

Suffering from a mental illness is really difficult to me and my husband. Also, my son and friend do too. Care and support is very thin, and often at the first sign of you coping it is withdrawn, but often this is a crucial time as it is easy to slip backwards.
Our GP is understanding, yet there have been times when I have needed to see him about several different problems, only to be told that we can only discuss ONE problem per consultation. It is hard to get appointments and now that they have started a drop in, sitting for hours at a surgery waiting to be seen is stressful, and when you do not feel well seems forever. I see the reasoning but surely there should be some other way.
Also, there is never any water available at the surgery, which I would have thought would be provided due to the long waiting time.

I try to, but there's not always the opportunity, so that means unfortunately it's generally only bad feedback that gets shared.

In our local hospital they have "postcards" where you write your thoughts good or bad and post them in the box provided which then go to the Matron apparently.

We also have the same system at the GPs, but not so easy to find.

You will always find that people are more likely to complain than praise, just the way it is.

My partner is 72 and due to ongoing health concerns has to access many different types of departments within the NHS and, the numerous clinics, which now seem to have been sold out to private enterprise. His experiences have all been highly satisfactory and this quality care has certainly enabled him to live a healthier life. He is strong minded, vocal and mentally sound. For those who are vulnerable and can't fight their own corner (or have a family who can) then I think it would be a totally different story.
I wish it was easier to provide feedback as he would love to have been able to give very positive feedback with ease.

My GP surgery had a feedback page on its website, which I have used to give them the praise they justly deserve. I cannot fault the care my late husband and I have been given and my second husband is amazed at how efficient and user friendly/patient orientated the practice is compared to the shambles he was used to before. However our local hospital let my late husband down every time he was admitted. He was dying from a rare lung disease and was on oxygen 24 hours a day. Without it he became agitated, confused and extremely anxious. He was admitted to an ENT ward to try and stop an unrelenting nosebleed and they actually rang me in the small hours to go and calm him down, he had been given an ambulatory oxygen cylinder to go to the toilet which had run out and nobody noticed his blue lips! I was so angry when I arrived to see him in such unnecessary distress. The attitude seemed to be that they thought his oxygen dependence was akin to alcohol dependence and he should pull himself together! They knew he was dying, I made a point of giving them a copy of his living will, drawn up by the palliative care consultant. This was some years ago to be fair and I was unaware of any feedback routes, I certainly would have given it had I known.

My mother has a condition called Progressive Subnuclear Palsy. It took a lot of nagging and persistence (18 months) to get a diagnosis. Our local conservative MP Roger Gale was exceptional in helping my dad fast track mums PIP application. Once diagnosed Thanets health and social care support of mum has been pretty good (my dad is full time carer). The only problem we had was with the continence nurse, fortunately mum and dad are in a position to afford to buy them but she was quite addement mum wasn't getting themwhilst the GP made it sound like it was gonna be straightforward yes once the nurse saw mum. Lack of communication between care givers. All the care mum has received has been good- just wish there was a bit more.

I lost my lovely husband of 40 years suddenly and unexpectedly last autumn. He was suffering from pneumonia and had to me taken to a hospital an hour's drive from home because our local hospital - 2 miles away - has no in-patient beds any more. He found his last few days very difficult because he couldn't communicate his needs to the staff, most of whom spoke very poor English. He died alone because nobody communicated with me in his last hours, they just left a message on my answerphone. I will never cease to think of him, to miss him, to talk to him but I am keenly aware of how much our little grand-daughter misses him and he should still be here with us if better care had been taken of him...

I think this is a good ideea. Thank you for the opportunity. I was a Senior Mental Health Nurse for many years. Have been subject to inspection myself. I understand the standards. And met them. I do think its alaways important to give feedback. However, there does not seem to be much reward.

We lived for over 40 years of married life in a small town. My husband health is failing,his memory is poor and he gets very agitated and quite depressed. The gp surgery offered no help and seemed to be staffed by every changing part timers. We never got to see the same person twice and were given no help or support.
We have since moved to be near our family who are very supportive.
Our new gp surgery have been amazing! We were both given a general health check when we joined. My husband was referred to a constant who diagnosed altzhimer/ dementia and he was given a drug to help with the symptoms. We were encouraged to attend a group meeting by the specialist nurse who visited us at home on a number of occasions. We are regularly contacted by the altzhimer society and carers groups and offered support for both my husband and I.
What a difference a location makes, we see the same medical team who know us and are aware of my husbands medical needs. SO GLAD WE MOVED,WELL DONE To Our NEW TEAM.

My mother was in care homes, a Bupa one the a private one. Bupa is not as it says on tv, I would never use them for anyone again, they are short staffed and not very well trained. The private one was also bad. The trouble is most of the staff are not careing enough to them it's just a job. They don't care about the people they look after. I have also worked in care homes and to be honest I don't think I'll ever work in one again. Like I said before most of the staff don't give a damn it's just a job. Same as the owner's to them each person is a money sign and I couldn't work like that because I actually did care. Don't get me started on the CQC if they did their job properly people would be looked after properly, they don't always act on things that have been reported and why on earth do they always announce their visits? They would see the true nature of the care if they turned up unannounced. That's why care homes are getting good ratings. They don't see the real stuff it's time they sorted themselves out and did their jobs properly. It really makes my blood boil. There rant over lol.

And I'm sorry you had whatever personal experience you did have.

Crikey, Crun, I looked at Threads I'm On, and imagined you would be ridiculing my cynicism and telling me that of course the CQC were to be trusted, what's wrong with me to be having such fears.

But no.

I gave the CQC lots of feedback over the lack of care that my mother suffered at Stepping Hill Hospital. I was told they don't actually deal with individual cases but they do go in and do unannounced visits. I directed them to the ward that they ought to go and visit unannounced and told them what sort of documentation to ask for e.g records of the rehabilitation work which was supposedly going on but which we were never able to see. I also asked them to change the 'smiling face of the NHS' at that hospital. When I have asked to see the CQC report I have so far been told it is not yet available. But in my opinion, backed up with copious notes and photos, my mother's death occurred earlier than it should have partly because of the poor care in one or more wards there. But then, the CQC don't deal with individual cases.

"If I fill in the questionnaire, will it really be confidential?"

From personal experience, no absolutely not. Neither is the "independent" advocacy service.

"What will happen as a result of the feedback we give on a service?"

They become very vindictive. You can't expect much support from the general public either, as Julie Bailey found to her cost.

I have two questions about this:

1. If I fill in the questionnaire, will it really be confidential? I know GNHQ would never divulge any RL info to other parties, but....

2. What will happen as a result of the feedback we give on a service? Will anyone act on it, in terms of that particular service?

I would never make a complaint because of fear of repercussions.

I tried to do the survey but it wouldn`t accept the name of my gp practice . I HAVE entered the correct name of the medical centre so tried the trust name and the Gp s name but none would be accepted

Spoke to a friend last week who had just spent three weeks in a Norfolk Hospital .
He is a wheel chair user and is 6 foot plus.He was placed in a normal bed which was to short for him.He told them this but they did nothing.He stubbed his toe on the end of the bed as a result which then became infected..He got bed sores.He said the standard of nursing care was appalling. When discharged he saw his GP who treated the toe which had infected to the bone and thought it may have to be amputated. He is still getting treatment from his GP.

I went to the trouble of doing a report on the Radiotherapy Department at my local hospital as I knew that department had been missed out on the last CQC visit. Had it accepted on website, but never heard anything after.
The next time I went into the same hospital I chose to do a report on the NHS Choices site for that hospital. There was a technical problem and couldn't get it to upload. Went to the button for technical issues and the guy couldn't be more helpful. Uploaded for me and got the glitch sorted - apparently the uploading didn't like speech marks. Got a reply from hospital and was glad they found my comments helpful. Would definitely do that again rather than contact the CQC.

Dispatches on Channel 4 tonight about the scandal of pensioners who have to rely on council-funded home care, chrismse.

Where did you find that out, chrismse?
Is it legal?

I have found to my horror that staffing levels are 1-12 in nursing homes. How is it possible to give good care with that low level of staffing. I worked in social care in ACS (adult care services) for people with a disability and the staffing levels are 1-3.

Home care is even worse with 15/20 minutes allowed per client, I just hope I never need such `care`.

Yes, durhamjen, whilst I'm pleased that the minimum wage is being increased, I fear you may be right. No doubt the fees will increase too.

Minimum wage going up to £7.20 an hour from tomorrow, Megram. I wonder how many staff jobs will be cut because of it.

My father is a resident in a nursing home which the CQC deemed to be "unsafe". On reading the report, I could hardly believe that they were talking about the same home. While they recognised that there were areas in which they could make improvements, the staff were devastated by the findings. I have found my Father's care to be consistently good and he is handled with understanding and compassion. There are a few instances when this doesn't happen, mainly when agency staff are brought in to cover nights, and I always give feedback to the manager if I feel it is necessary. Staff need more training and of course, better pay to do what is an extremely difficult job. We seem to have fallen into a culture where people don't have any pride in the jobs that they do or respect for others and until the carers are recognised and valued as professionals, then this may always be the case.
I found the whole process of getting dad moved out of hospital (where he was clearly bed blocking ) made unneccessarily difficult by social workers and admin staff at the Local Authority dragging their heels.

I give feedback whenever possible, I have had various help with social and healthcare from occupational therapists through to alteration and adaptations in my home. Without these changes my life would be far more difficult. When I've been given such good care I believe it important to give good positive feedback as the hardworking staff that have improved my life deserve to be recognised for their hard work and caring attitude. At the same time if ever I've had a problem ( which is quite rare but has happened) I believe positive feedback on the problem can help the awareness to rectify it . How can people know if no one ever says anything?

Chair of the CQC now is no longer Prior. He's someone who used to be on the board of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
That's probably why they only want to pay £300 for all the information they could get from us.
Me, cynical?