Turning the gaze: Digital patient feedback and the silent pathology of the NHS

Catherine M. Montgomery; John Powell; Kamal Mahtani; Anne-Marie Boylan

doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13419

Turning the gaze: Digital patient feedback and the silent pathology of the NHS

Catherine M. Montgomery^*, John Powell, Kamal Mahtani, Anne-Marie Boylan

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Online review and rating sites, where patients can leave feedback on their experience of the healthcare encounter, are becoming an increasing feature of primary care in the NHS. Previous research has analysed how digital surveillance is re-shaping the clinical gaze, as healthcare professionals are subject to increased public monitoring. Here, we draw on an empirical study of 41GP practice staff to show how the gaze is turning, not simply from the patient to the healthcare provider, but additionally to the body politic of the NHS. Drawing on focus group and interview data conducted in five UK practices, we show how discourses of online reviews and ratings are producing new professional subjectivities among healthcare professionals and the extent to which the gaze extends not only to individual healthcare interactions but to the healthcare service writ large. We identify three counter-discourses characterising the evolving ways in which online reviews and ratings are creating new subjects in primary care practices: victimhood, prosumption vs traditional values,and taking control. We show how the ways in which staff speak about online feedback are patterned by the social environment in which they work and the constraints of the NHS they encounter on a day-to-day basis.

Original language	English
Number of pages	18
Journal	Sociology of Health & Illness
Early online date	4 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13419
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 4 Dec 2021

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

digital health
patient experience
primary care
Foucault

Access to Document

10.1111/1467-9566.13419Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

MontgomeryEtalSHI2021TurningTheGazeFinal published version, 880 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.13419Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Developing a Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society
Cunningham-Burley, S. (Principal Investigator), Chan, S. (Co-investigator), Haddow, G. (Co-investigator), Laurie, G. (Co-investigator), Pickersgill, M. (Co-investigator), Sridhar, D. (Co-investigator) & Sturdy, S. (Co-investigator)
UK-based charities
1/10/17 → 31/03/24
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Turning the gaze: Digital patient feedback and the silent pathology of the NHS",

abstract = "Online review and rating sites, where patients can leave feedback on their experience of the healthcare encounter, are becoming an increasing feature of primary care in the NHS. Previous research has analysed how digital surveillance is re-shaping the clinical gaze, as healthcare professionals are subject to increased public monitoring. Here, we draw on an empirical study of 41GP practice staff to show how the gaze is turning, not simply from the patient to the healthcare provider, but additionally to the body politic of the NHS. Drawing on focus group and interview data conducted in five UK practices, we show how discourses of online reviews and ratings are producing new professional subjectivities among healthcare professionals and the extent to which the gaze extends not only to individual healthcare interactions but to the healthcare service writ large. We identify three counter-discourses characterising the evolving ways in which online reviews and ratings are creating new subjects in primary care practices: victimhood, prosumption vs traditional values,and taking control. We show how the ways in which staff speak about online feedback are patterned by the social environment in which they work and the constraints of the NHS they encounter on a day-to-day basis.",

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AU - Powell, John

AU - Mahtani, Kamal

AU - Boylan, Anne-Marie

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N2 - Online review and rating sites, where patients can leave feedback on their experience of the healthcare encounter, are becoming an increasing feature of primary care in the NHS. Previous research has analysed how digital surveillance is re-shaping the clinical gaze, as healthcare professionals are subject to increased public monitoring. Here, we draw on an empirical study of 41GP practice staff to show how the gaze is turning, not simply from the patient to the healthcare provider, but additionally to the body politic of the NHS. Drawing on focus group and interview data conducted in five UK practices, we show how discourses of online reviews and ratings are producing new professional subjectivities among healthcare professionals and the extent to which the gaze extends not only to individual healthcare interactions but to the healthcare service writ large. We identify three counter-discourses characterising the evolving ways in which online reviews and ratings are creating new subjects in primary care practices: victimhood, prosumption vs traditional values,and taking control. We show how the ways in which staff speak about online feedback are patterned by the social environment in which they work and the constraints of the NHS they encounter on a day-to-day basis.

AB - Online review and rating sites, where patients can leave feedback on their experience of the healthcare encounter, are becoming an increasing feature of primary care in the NHS. Previous research has analysed how digital surveillance is re-shaping the clinical gaze, as healthcare professionals are subject to increased public monitoring. Here, we draw on an empirical study of 41GP practice staff to show how the gaze is turning, not simply from the patient to the healthcare provider, but additionally to the body politic of the NHS. Drawing on focus group and interview data conducted in five UK practices, we show how discourses of online reviews and ratings are producing new professional subjectivities among healthcare professionals and the extent to which the gaze extends not only to individual healthcare interactions but to the healthcare service writ large. We identify three counter-discourses characterising the evolving ways in which online reviews and ratings are creating new subjects in primary care practices: victimhood, prosumption vs traditional values,and taking control. We show how the ways in which staff speak about online feedback are patterned by the social environment in which they work and the constraints of the NHS they encounter on a day-to-day basis.

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Turning the gaze: Digital patient feedback and the silent pathology of the NHS

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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Projects

Developing a Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society

Cite this