Enter and view: Darwen Healthlink

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen undertook an unannounced enter and view visit to Darwen Health Lin Practice on 7 February 2025.  They spoke to 19 patients and 7 staff.

Darwen Health Link is located within Darwen Health Centre just up from Darwen town centre. Patients Healthwatch spoke with found access to the practice easy generally but harder for patients with mobility issues due to its location on a hill. Patients also find parking to be an issue on site with few buses going to the health centre from the town centre. 

The practice is bright, clean and hygienic and there is up to date patient information displayed well on noticeboards throughout the practice. The website is informative and we noted that it has accessibility functions built into it including a choice of languages. The Winter newsletter on the website was informative and an easy read. It was also easy to find how to make a compliment or complaint about the practice and the Practice has ‘simple text’ letters available for patients. 

Access to the Health Centre was raised as an issue, particularly by those travelling by car due to limited parking availability and also for more elderly patients or people with mobility issues who access the centre on public transport which is infrequent from the town centre up the hill to the health centre. Patients Healthwatch spoke with were generally able to get an appointment within a reasonable time although some had to wait for a while on the telephone. However, this has been recognised as an issue by the practice and it is apparent that measures have been taking to reduce the waiting time for appointments. Patients also generally found that they had enough time with the doctor and that staff were courteous and friendly. 

“Did Not Attends” are an issue for the practice but the statistics are published on the practice’s social media and newsletter to highlight the impact to patients and the new phone option to cancel an appointment seems to be helping to reduce the DNAs. Staff Healthwatch spoke with felt supported in their roles and could speak with management if they had any concerns. 

Concerns were raised by patients about not getting their prescriptions when they expected them to be ready. Healthwatch spoke with a member of the prescriptions team who explained that there can be issues if the ‘GP line’ goes down and electronic requests do not show up on the day. They also highlighted that any prescription requests made over a weekend would only show up on the Monday therefore would take 48 hours to process from the Monday and they sometimes have to contact local pharmacies to check on prescription progress.