A new partnership between NHS Choices and Patient was launched by Phil Hope, Minister for Care Services -enabling patients using mental health services to comment on them online.

Service users, carers and their families can access www.nhs.uk and www.patientopinion.org.uk to  share stories and leave feedback on the care they have received.

When a comment is posted, staff at the organisation it relates to are notified and will have the opportunity to respond to the feedback and take any necessary action - which will help to drive up standards in mental health services.

Care Services Minister Phil Hope said:

"Personalising services and making them more responsive to patient's needs is at the very heart of our New Horizons strategy. So this partnership means every single Trust in the country can see what they are doing well and what needs to be improved, helping to drive up quality."

Paul Hodgkin, Chief Executive of Patient Opinion said the new partnership with NHS Choices will mean that more people than ever will be able to help trusts provide the services that users really want. As all the responses from trusts are public, it will ensure greater accountability and give service users an even stronger voice.

"We are delighted NHS Choices asked us to team up with them. This partnership means that more service users can help improve the services they have to use while Trusts can demonstrate that they really do listen to service users."

"The simple fact is that the more mental health services listen and act on these stories, the better care will be."