Enter and view: Swallownest Court
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Healthwatch Rotherham undertook an announced enter and view visit to Swallownest Court on 14 April and 13 May 2025. They spoke to 22 patients and 23 staff.
Overall, Swallownest Court is a place where most patients feel safe and understand why they’ve been referred there and what the plan is for their treatment. However, the feedback Healthwatch received from patients differed according to the service that they were under and so the survey results should be looked at in detail before drawing conclusions.
In general, those being seen by the South Locality Team appear to be most satisfied with the service. However, most of the respondents to Healthwatch's survey came from those being treated by this team (16 responses) and it may be that the low numbers responding from the other wards (2 responses from each) are not representative of the opinions of everyone there. Additionally, the South Locality Team treats individuals as outpatients, whereas those responding from the other areas were mainly inpatients. It may be that the experiences of in and out patients are different. It should also be noted that not everyone who responded to our survey was able to comment on all parts of the service due to the staff they access and the facilities they use. This may additionally affect the findings.
Overall, most patients rated the outside and social/communal spaces as ‘good’ or ‘ok’, and also were happy with the cleanliness of the facilities and the privacy they had. This was echoed by our observations and we felt that the facilities were good and well maintained. Food choice was more negatively viewed by patients with one person telling us that if they didn’t like what was on the menu, there were no alternatives. However, Healthwatch noted through our observations that patients could bring in their own food and were given options. It may be that this isn’t offered or clear on all wards.
Patient opinion on staff (where they had contact with them) was mixed although notably quite positive on the Osprey ward, where they also seem to be kept updated on any changes happening and are confident on who they can speak to if they have a problem.
Healthwatch's general observations were that staff at Swallownest Court were friendly, welcoming and interacted positively with patients. However, we were made aware that different teams have different staffing levels which may account for the mixed patient experience. This was also reflected in the results of their staff survey where some staff were clearly experiencing low morale and burnout, resulting in high absence levels on teams, whereas others felt valued and supported by peers and management.
A common theme expressed amongst staff was that although the service was happy to listen to suggestions for improvement, little action was taken as a result of it. It was recognised that some staff felt that some of this was due to funding issues for both services, facilities and staff but a lot felt that increased recruitment would ease some of the challenges currently being faced. Some staff also highlighted a lack of opportunity for progression and felt more chances to grow and develop their skills would be a positive. However, although staff face challenges, they clearly get great satisfaction from working with patients and families to get them to the point where they are strong enough to be discharged from the service and they value the work that they do.
The report has nine recommendations and a response from the provider.