Knowsley & St Helens Patient Experience Report Qtr 2 13 /14

This report was produced in October of 2013 by Healthwatch St Helens and Healthwatch Knowsley.

The report is based around 30 comments received between 19th July 2013 and 30th September 2013.

It is part of Healthwatches normal activities and a regulat review of services. The comments were mostly about St. Helens and Knowsley Training Hospitals Trust and two thirds of the comments were negative. The following recommendations were made:

A procedure must be put in place to ensure that patients receive the correct information before during and after their treatment.This is especially important when the person has additional communication support needs.

There are still high levels of patients reporting either really good Quality of Treatment, or really poor Quality of Treatment. Healthwatch to be kept updated with progress for accessing Patient Satisfaction via Friends and Family Test and other mechanisms.

The Trust must continue to work closely with Healthwatch on Equality Delivery Systems to ensure that all patients accessing the Trust receive a High Quality ofServices.

There are some concerning comments about the attitude of staff towards some patients. Robust policies must be in place to ensure that patients, carers and other visitors are treated with respect,compassion and dignity.

There are still comments about there not being enough staff, this can lead to falls and misdiagnosis. Steps must be put in place to ensure that there is adequate staffing to support patients needs at all times.

A system must be put in place to ensure that rooms are clean and tidy when a patient enters them. It is unacceptable for a patient to encounter old blood or vomit.

A response was provided and changes were agreed as a result of the recommendations.