A&E Watch, Countess of Chester Hospital

This is a report by Healthwatch Cheshire East and Healthwatch Cheshire West. Representatives visited the local Countess of Chester A&E department.

A&E watch is part of our annual programme of work, visiting A&E services across Cheshire West and East. The visit took place the context of unprecedented levels of attendance in the department and to understand reasons why people were attending, specifically whether they had attempted to access any other services prior to going to A&E.

A&E Watch allows Healthwatch Cheshire to gather the experiences of individuals, which provides additional rich and detailed information, enhancing the statistics regarding A&E attendance. This report can be read in conjunction with our Countess of Chester A&E Enter and View Report and our Same Day Emergency Centre Report.

Following three visits a total of 127 people we spoken to, completing a survey.

Why people told us they attended A&E rather than other services:

• Over half (61%) of all respondents had spoken to someone else before attending A&E. The majority had been advised to attend by their GP Practice, 111 or 999.
• 62% had spoken to someone for advice or treatment the same day as attending A&E and 21% the day before. 
• Other respondents had spoken to someone 2-7 days previously and some had accessed numerous services before attending.
• The majority (76%) of those who had spoken to someone, been advised to go to A&E. Over half(62%) of the people who were told to attend A&E weren’t sure or didn’t know if they would be expecting them.
• Of respondents who had chosen not to speak to anyone prior to attending A&E, over half (55%) felt it was an emergency or too urgent to go elsewhere and 28% had been previously advised to come to A&E by another medical professional.
• Over half (58%) of the respondents had been brought to A&E by a friend or relative and almost a quarter, (24%) came by Ambulance or Paramedic. 

People’s experiences of attending A&E:

• Of those who arrived by ambulance, 70% were waiting less than 2 hours for it to arrive. Over three quarters (75%) rated the care they received from paramedics as ‘excellent’.
• Almost three quarters (74%) of those waiting at A&E had not been kept regularly up to date on waiting times and just over half (52%) had not been kept up to date with their treatment and care.
• 86% said they had been treated with dignity and respect during their time at A&E and 72% said they felt their privacy had been maintained as much as possible.
• Almost three quarters of respondents (71%) thought the service they received in A&E was good or excellent. Positive themes included the service they received from the staff and the speed of being seen by triage. Negative themes included long wait times, general facilities and staff communication.
• Almost half of respondents (48%) had been to A&E before in the last 12 months. Over half of those had been once or twice (53%) and a quarter (27%) had been 4 times or more.
• Attendees were predominantly White British (92%) and Heterosexual (93%) with slightly more female than male (58% versus 42%). Age demographics varied across the range with most being over 50 (61%).
• 9% considered themselves to be a carer and over half (53%) said they had a disability or long term health condition. 

There were no recommendations in this report.

There are no follow up actions in this report.