Healthwatch reports that their visits to local services has increased by 300% in the last year, resulting in providers and commissioners not just listening to but also acting on their recommendations.
Collectively they have spoken with / heard from an estimated 300,000 patients, care users and members of the public and have conducted more than 600 formal ‘Enter & View’ visits to hospitals, GPs and care homes.
In some areas, Healthwatch has been training volunteers from seldom heard groups such as those with learning disabilities and members of the deaf community to assess patient experience from their point of view and thus highlighting problems previously gone unnoticed.
This activity has uncovered shocking treatment of patients, including:
- One elderly patient was left to sit in their own waste in their hospital bed as staff were too busy to change a repeatedly overflowing colostomy bag.
- It took 2 years for a patient to get a referral from his GP for cancer, despite presenting repeatedly with 3 or more symptoms. The delay to his treatment has significantly reduced his long term prospects.
- A mental health crisis patient was told by the 24 hour helpline to “read a book or something” until the morning when her records could be accessed and the team could deal with her.
However, the majority of what local Healthwatch found relates to how the NHS and care services can improve basic consumer experience.
Common issues that came up were:
- Poor access to interpreter services
- Call bells being put out of the reach of patients and care users
- Poor signage in waiting rooms at A&E and walk-in centres
- Difficulty accessing patient transport services
- Hospital parking charges
- Poor communication with patients around diagnosis
Healthwatch has been sharing these findings with local providers and commissioners, and have been using their seats on local health and wellbeing boards and overview and scrutiny committees, challenging them to respond.
Crucially the evidence collected by local Healthwatch is also starting to inform the work of the CQC, helping inspection teams to target and prioritise which services to inspect next.
For more information, please visit the Healthwatch website.
