Enter and view: Manchester Road

Healthwatch Tower Hamlets gather information on people’s experiences of health and social care services and there are times when it is appropriate for Healthwatch Tower Hamlets to see and hear for themselves how services are being delivered: these visits are called ‘Enter and View’, they are not inspections.

Healthwatch Tower Hamlets visited Manchester Road (Sheltered Accommodation) on 10th March 2015.

The key findings highlighted areas in relation to patient feedback, staff feedback and observation. The majority of residents Healthwatch Tower Hamlets spoke to commented positively about Genesis HA support workers, residents mentioned that they feel the current support staff are reliable (apparently Southern Housing staff based at Manchester Road are not very reliable), friendly, sociable, engaging and they also do their best to always to check up on them to make sure they are alright. Residents also mentioned that they appreciate the continuity of staff provided by Genesis HA. Under the previous providers apparently there was high turnover of staff and by the time residents got to know them and developed relationships with them they left. Residents have also mentioned that Genesis support staff are making efforts to organise social activities for them. Apparently this was not happening with the previous provider. Residents seem to appreciate the coffee mornings and the quiz taking place currently. The need to increase social activities was mentioned by several residents, they feel that there should be more social and health related activities (Thai Chi, Massage, exercise) organised and there should also be more specific activities for them to take part in during the evenings e.g. parties. A few other residents mentioned that they would also like to go on day trips and theatre trips. A few residents mentioned that it would be useful for them to know what social activities are happening locally, and they would like the support staff to provide such information to them on a regular basis. Most of the residents expressed concern that the number of hours of support they are receiving (26 hours per week) currently is insufficient to support them and to ensure that their welfare is maintained (especially the more venerable residents). Representatives got the feeling that a lot of residents are feeling insecure and not very safe as a result of this situation. A lot of residents mentioned that in the past they had a live in warden, and this made them feel safe and secure and that this person would also organise evening activities and parties for them. This is what one resident said in relation to not feeling safe… ‘in the past we had a full time warden that lived here, you felt safe knowing she was here…I don’t feel safe as I use to feel before’. A few patients also expressed concern at the emergency pull cord system (internal intercom), (1) they said the call centre does not always respond quickly enough (especially weekends and another resident changed provider due to this) and (2) as the call centre is not based locally (unlike in the past) if you need help urgently residents are unsure how they would respond to them quickly. Another concern seemed to be residents being unsure whether or not the call centre has the correct updated information on them to help them in an emergency. Another resident also mentioned that the beeping on the emergency call system does not stop sometimes and on her last occasion of activating the system she was left to bear with the beeping noise for two whole days.

The report included 4 recommendations.