Enter and view: Countess of Chester Hospital; Ward 34 (Male elderly care)

Healthwatch Cheshire West conducted an announced Enter and View visit to the Countess of Chester Hospital's Male Elderly Care Ward on 14/01/2014.

The ward treats male patients, from the Countess’ catchment area (i.e. Chester City Rural Wales); who have been admitted due to an acute medical emergency; either due to a long term medical condition or a new episode-stroke /cardiac illness. Some patients suffer from dementia and other physical illnesses.

The Enter and View Authorised Representatives observed that, overall, this was a well ordered clean ward providing optimum conditions for patients to receive care for their medical condition. The felt that staff were visibly extremely compassionate, appear to be well led and work well as a team. They noted in the report that safety appeared to be given a high priority with evidence of on-going improvement.

The report notes that that the ward itself felt calm, welcoming and airy and that its individual parts were uncluttered. The corridors had visitors chairs lining the area. At the time of the visit the ward was quiet and the visiting team observed that there appeared to be a good interaction between staff and the impression was that all were working well as a team. Staff working with a patient were observed clearly talking to the patient and explaining the procedure.

The recommendations made in the report suggested that door stiffness / dampers should be checked with a Newton Meter to check compliance regarding DDA standards. The Hospital should carry out risk assessment on use of blue flooring in bathroom / washroom / toilet areas – as these might be perceived as water by patients with Dementia.

There is no provider response included within this report