Enter and view: Henley in Arden

Healthwatch Warwickshire did an announced Enter and View visit to Henley in Arden Medical Centre on 20th October 2015. The surgery is in a purpose-built one storey building opened in 1990 in good condition, with a public car park next to it. The inside is dated but clean and tidy.

The Healthwatch Enter and View team found the surgery met almost all their observation criteria. It did not have an electronic check in system, and the call system wasn’t working properly. There were some patients’ folders with useful information to read through including about the PPG for the surgery.

The questionnaire asked the patients attending the surgery about appointments, access, parking, signage, staff attitudes, cleanliness and the quality of care amongst other things. Seven out of the 59 respondents found the appointment booking system to be poor, “Lucky to get through on the phone. You have to keep ringing”.

The responses about the GP and other staff were mixed with one person commenting on the reception staff “Depends which one. One decided on the phone that I didn’t need an appointment and I ended up going to hospital.” 6 people found the punctuality at the surgery to be a problem.

A few recommendations for some possible improvement included:

• The Surgery look into the concerns raised by the patients in respect of the appointment booking system.

• The Surgery address the problem with the appointment call system to ensure that it is consistently audible in the waiting room.

• Informing patients on the day of any delays which may impact their appointment.

The surgery provided a detailed response about the points raised that had been acknowledged and acted upon.