Patient experience feedback: we need to engage with the issues of using big data methods to capture the human voice

The NHS regularly asks its patients to complete surveys reporting on the quality of care they have received. These surveys include opportunities for patients to submit feedback in their own words. Carol Rivas describes how computational and digital methods can be used to analyse and report patient feedback in an efficient and timely manner. However, it is important to recognise and resolve some of the issues arising from use of these methods; from the need to avoid reducing patients’ voices to data points, to the risks of outputs being viewed as incontestable “truths”.