Enter and view analysis of visits to specific places of support services related to diabetes

Healthwatch Sandwell provides an overview of their Enter and View visits conducted between April 2023 and March 2024.  During this period, the focus for their enter and views was patients' experiences of support services related to diabetes.  They spoke to 90 people in total.

Patients gave extremely positive feedback about staff which included being professional and being treated with dignity and respect. 81% rated the Provider as ‘excellent’. The majority of patients were given a choice of venue to attend, although concern was expressed by patients attending the Diabetic Screening Service at ASDA Oldbury Superstore. 

The majority of patients stated that all the information received about their appointment was clear and easy to understand. Patients were mainly communicated with by letter and preferred this form of communication. 

NHS funded health and social care providers must meet the information and communication needs of people who access services (the Equality Act 2020 and the NHS Accessible Information Standard 2016). This report has highlighted how the services meet the needs of people who are hearing impaired , visually impaired, have a learning disability and people with speak English as a second language. The recording of patients' communication needs varied between clinics, there was a lack of consistency and was dependent on staff asking the patient for the information.

48% were unaware of how to raise concerns and compliments. Staff described perceiving comments/complaints as a learning opportunity. 

Staff were committed to their roles and aimed to give the Patient a good service. Staff receive ongoing staff development, which includes supervision and annual appraisals, where training needs are identified and relevant training provided to meet staff’s needs. Healthwatch were also informed that there are career progression opportunities within some providers. Staff were keen to enhance their skills and knowledge in any way that they can. Staff have the opportunity to attend regular staff meetings (face to face or virtual). 

This report has included suggestions made by staff to improve their service and challenges that staff face, which included, workload, working environment and antisocial behaviour. The latter situations were rare. 

This report has given an overview of the recommendations that were made, however the most common recommendation for 85 % of Providers was to be proactive in informing Patients of the comments and complaints process. All Providers need to install a loop system for hearing impaired Patients and advertise this facility with a sign promoting the T sign for the loop system.