Enter and View: Day Case Unit – Horton General Hospital

Healthwatch Oxfordshire completed an Enter & View visit to the Day Case Unit at Horton General Hospital on 20/06/2023. As well as observation, they spoke to 11 patients on the day.

Their main findings were:

• The Day Case Unit is a busy, well led, patient centred service, providing excellent care with a highly skilled, caring and committed staff team.
• Patients had praise for the Day Case Unit staff and valued the care and support they received.
• Patients generally feel able to raise concerns with the staff team about their treatment and care.
• The Day Case Unit was clean and tidy.
• The corridors are used for storage of equipment and other items giving a slightly cluttered feel, (the cleaning equipment in the corridor), which was quite a busy area with beds.
• The unit has a range of information, which is both comprehensive and well – presented, including information on a variety of conditions, such asdiabetes, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), falls prevention, infection prevention and control.
• A suggestion box is available, and there is information on how to give feedback as well as a ‘you said, we did’ display with quotes from patients, and results of recent friends and family test feedback.
• The unit workload varies, and we heard that the number of trolleys available may not always manage patient capacity.
• The building was quite stuffy and warm; there was no temperature control, ventilation, or air coolers.
• There are no lockers for patients to store their clothes and other belongings while in surgery other than in their own bags.
• The opening times are displayed at the main entrance of the unit, but they are not clearly visible to patients while the door is open.
• There is no directional signage from the car park to navigate to the Day Case Unit building.

Based on these findings, Healthwatch Oxfordshire made the following recommendations:

• Improve signage from both directions from the car park and inside the building to help patients navigate easily.
• Display the service opening hours in a prominent position, and in large format on the main entrance instead of the current position.
• Review items in the unit and corridors with scope to ‘declutter’.
• Need for more storage within the unit to avoid cluttering and items being left in corridors and around the unit.
• Review ward temperatures and monitor patient comfort .
• More trolleys could be provided to accommodate more patients and to cope with workload during busy hours.
• Lockers for patients to keep their clothes and other belongings while in surgery could be provided.
• Having more computers or iPads will help facilitate patient admissions.
• A water fountain on the ward for patients and at the waiting area should be considered.