Make a Difference

We want to make sure we are commissioning the best possible services for patients, and that any quality concerns can be raised and addressed.

Healthcare professionals can use our Make a Difference (MkAD) online form to report any quality concerns.

If you’re a member of the public, please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service to tell us about your experience of health services in South West London.

MkAD quality alert online form

Report your concerns now

Only use this form if you’re a healthcare professional.

The form should not be used for issues needing urgent resolution, serious incidents, complaints or PALS and should not replace regular day-to-day communication between healthcare professionals.

Once submitted, the text in the comment box will be processed and sent to the service provider for action.

Process summary

MkAD reported about a south west London provider
Alert reviewed by MkAD team (appropriateness and urgency)
Alert raises possible safeguarding/serious concerns, reviewed by safeguarding/patient safety lead before processing as MkAD
Alert acknowledged (2 working days) and sent to provider
Provider investigates concerns within 10 or 15 working days
MkAD team chase overdue response, if necessary
Provider sends response to reporter, cc’ing MkAD
MkAD team review response (with other ICB team as required), collate learning, improvements and themes
If response sufficient and no further questions, alert is closed
Themes and improvements collated quarterly and shared through various reports

Read our top tips:

Top Tips when using the NHS South West london MkAD system (163kB pdf)

More about Make a Difference

What is Make A Difference?

Make A Difference is a user-friendly online form for health and social care professionals across south west London.

It is used to flag any quality concerns, issues or good practice that they have become aware of for services commissioned in south west London.

The system acts as an early warning/feedback system, providing intelligence that is used to improve patient care, service improvement and address any wider quality issues. When a concern is raised, the provider is expected to investigate and respond with a summary of their findings and actions taken to resolve the concern.

Why use the alert system?

A MkAD alert can be used to raise concerns regarding a range of issues, such as poor-quality clinical care, issues with referral or discharge processes, clinical pathways, or service provision and may relate to clinical or non-clinical issues.

However, the MKAD process does not replace the regular day to day communication between health and social care professionals required to deliver patient care.

When not to use MkAD

The system should not be used for issues needing urgent resolution, safeguarding concerns, serious clinical concerns/incidents, complaints, or PaLS.

How to raise an MkAD alert

Alerts can be raised by completing the online reporting form.

Make A Difference alerts are managed by the ICB quality team using a system called Radar Healthcare. The content should be factual, professional, and not include staff or patient names.

If the concern relates to a specific patient, the NHS number and date of birth should be included in that section of the form.

What happens when you raise an alert?

The form is delivered to a secure inbox where it is reviewed to ensure:

It is an appropriate alert for MkAD

All required information has been provided

Assessed for level of urgency and potential for patient harm
- Urgent alerts – response expected within 10 working days
- Routine alerts – response expected within 15 working days
Sent to the provider via secure email for them to review and respond.

What happens with responses?

The provider sends their response directly to the original reporter via secure email and MkAD team is copied in. If a response if overdue, the MkAD team will follow this up.

Once a response is received and is satisfactory, any learning and improvements are recorded, and the alert is closed. Please note, the reporter will need an NHS Digital accredited secure email e.g. NHS.net in order to receive a response.

What should I do if I receive an alert about my service?

If you receive a MkAD, please review and investigate the concerns raised, identifying any issues that need to be addressed and provide a response directly to the reporter, copying in the MkAD team.