Overview

Enter and View visits are conducted by a small team of staff and trained volunteers, who are prepared as authorised representatives to conduct visits to Health and Social Care premises to find out how they are being run and make recommendations where there are areas for improvement.

Humber Healthwatch Network (HHN) conducted Enter and View visits at the Emergency Departments of Hull Royal Infirmary, Grimsby Diana Princess of Wales Hospital and Scunthorpe General Hospital. They were made during November 2021 over a 2 week period, with 4 visits per hospital and engaged with 153 patients (with 18 follow-up surveys conducted). The aim was to capture the experience of patients, their satisfaction with the information and treatment they received, their suggestions for improvement, and their future service preferences.

Key findings

The HHN concluded that the main reasons for patients attending ED were being advised to do so, having difficulties accessing primary care, not knowing other options, or believing ED was the best choice. Further detail is provided below.

• Difficulties in arranging an appointment with their GP
  Only 18.8% of patients who could have used an alternative service to the emergency department (ED) did so. The main reason for choosing the ED over an alternative service was the difficulty in arranging an appointment with their GP. Patients faced issues such as not being able to contact their GP, not getting an appointment, or getting an appointment that did not suit their needs (e.g., too late or phone-based).
  

• Clinical decisions and diagnostics
  Patients were more commonly advised to attend their local ED by their GP than any other service. 50% of patients who we engaged with during the Enter and View visits in Scunthorpe and Grimsby were referred to ED services when it may be possible the patient needs could have been met through GP Practices or alternative services.
  

• Informing the Public
  Healthwatch identified between 24% – 37.1% of patients at ED were advised to attend their local ED by ‘other’ (Workplace First Aiders, School Nurses, family and friends as well as other Health Professionals). Public awareness should be made about alternative service instead of using ED.

• Carers in ED
  Patients’ experiences were impacted by not being able to have their carer or guardian with them at their local ED or inside treatment rooms, with concerns being raised about being in the department by themselves which made them feel anxious.
  

Full report

The full report can be viewed directly below and can also be downloaded from the link further down the page.

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