Your voice matters

Stories to Build a Better Health Service

Your Voice Matters is a nationally available patient experience framework tool that captures the lived experiences of service users and/or their families by inviting them to describe in their own words a recent experience of engaging with health and social care service(s).  The focus is on what matters most to service users, and allows the opportunity to capture both positive and negative feedback. 

Your Voice Matters can be used to gather information from a range of populations.  The questions asked within individual surveys differ to meet the needs of each target population, however are always informed by person centred, co-ordinated care, including empathy and respect, shared decision making, communication, and values.  

Experiences are captured in real time and are analysed in terms of emerging themes across the narratives.  Decision-making regarding service planning can then be guided by these findings.  

Examples of how the information gathered from Your Voice Matters may be used include:  

  •  Identifying what is important to service users as they use all aspects of our services
  •  Informing service improvements.     
  •  Supporting the inclusion of patient experience and perspective in the development of care pathways and models of care.
  •  Providing feedback to staff on the positive impact they have had on the lives of service users  

If you think Your Voice Matters might be a useful way of hearing the patient voice in your service please contact Your Voice Matters by e-mailing yourvoicematters@hse.ie