Enter and view: Ilford Medical Centre

Healthwatch Redbridge conducted an announced Enter and View visit to Ilford Medical Centre on 29 September 2017 as part of a programme of work across all GP practices within the area. The visits were carried out to review the implementation of the Accessible Information Standard to ensure that people with a learning disability, communication impairment or sensory loss are provided with information in a format that they can understand.

This project included a desktop survey of the Practice website, two of the volunteers involved in this part of the work had communication impairments; one Deaf volunteer and volunteer with Asperger's Syndrome.

During the visit the Enter and View Authorised representatives spoke with the Practice Manager, two members of the reception team and four patients.

The findings noted that staff receive annual Deaf awareness training, communication training as well as Easy Read training and that new patients were asked about communication needs at registration.

Eleven recommendations were made to the Practice including a recommendations that staff reduce their reliance on family and carers to relay information to patients and that a process was put in place to regularly review the communication needs of existing patients as some may acquire communication impairments over time.

Healthwatch Redbridge received a response from the Practice making a factual correction to information on one of the pages, however no response was noted regarding the recommendations.