Enter and view: Aldersbrook Medical Centre, Redbridge

Healthwatch Redbridge (HWR) conducted Enter & View visits to all 46 GP practices across Redbridge as part of their work programme during July to October 2017. Following a series of workshops on the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), the visit was an opportunity to discover if the standard had been implemented and gave patients accessibility to information. The team prior to the visit also reviewed website accessibility.

Recommendations:

To make the website more accessible, patients should be able to:

• Change the colour of the background to make sufficient contrast between text and background.

• Navigate the whole website without a mouse, many rely on the keyboard.

• Use the sitemap button for people with communication impairments to find information on the website.

• Access website information via screen readers and translation software (such as Browesaloud®5) especially for people with visual impairments.

• A Communications Handbook with basic images of common British Sign Language (BSL) and Makaton symbols should be available in the reception enabling staff to communicate more effectively with patients who have communication impairments.

• Staff should receive training on the AIS, visual impairment and deaf awareness and provision of information in an accessible format for patients with learning difficulties.

The surgery:

• To have a complaints/compliments procedure displayed on noticeboard in a variety of formats

• Hearing loop sign in Reception area and staff trained on its use

• An electronic screen to inform patients when it is time for their appointment with audio information.

• Display a poster about the Accessible Information Standard on the noticeboard

• Should consider ‘highlighting the edge of the ramp to ensure that people with visual impairments are able to see it.