Enter and view: Lister Hospital and New QE II Hospital

Healthwatch Hertfordshire undertook an enter and view visit to Lister Hospital and the New QEII Hospital on 5 and 7 March 2018.  They visited Phlebotomy, Outpatients,  Urgent Care, Cancer Centre, the Discharge Lounge and A&E.  They spoke to over 90 patients and relatives.

The majority of patients had nothing but praise for the care they had received at both hospitals. One patient was keen to tell us that they had had 5 choices of hospital for their treatment but chose the Lister following the excellent medical care they had received previously. Patients felt that the care they received by staff and volunteers in the Lister Macmillan Centre and support provided by the Macmillan Information Centre was excellent. 

The check in experience at the Urgent Care Centre QE11 and A&E Lister was rated good. 

Patient feedback was evident via Friends and Family Test feedback boxes and posters showing actions taken.

Patients seem to have long waits in all the areas of the hospital Healthwatch visited. Waiting for blood tests was the area most patients complained about. Demand for tests at both hospital sites has put pressure on the waiting areas at both hospitals.

 Reasons for people accessing the NQE11 appeared to reflect the problems patients had obtaining tests at their GP (the wait could be up to 3 weeks at the GP surgery) and also that the hospital was seen as the local place for blood testing even if blood tests were offered at the GP. At the Lister it was more complex and whilst some patients did use it because of lack of timely testing at their GP, many needed the blood test at the Lister because of their medical condition or ongoing treatment. 

The site of the blood testing unit at the QE11 hospital does not seem to be big enough for the amount of people using it and impacts on the initial good impression of a bright, welcoming new hospital to one of feeling cramped and chaotic. (The Trust is a tenant of the NQE11 and was given this space for blood testing). Seating elsewhere is readily available. There does not appear to be enough phlebotomists and Healthwatch were told that the Lister/QE11 phlebotomists also go out to the GP surgeries.

Patients appreciated that they may have to wait and capacity is an issue for the Trust but there are some things that could be done to alleviate patient’s anxiety and make the waiting more bearable. It was good to hear that the Senior Sister Clinical Lead at the NQE11 was going to focus on the blood testing unit as an area for improvement. Patients using the Lister Macmillan Cancer Centre felt that the Trust needed to adopt a more proactive approach to managing the risk of key equipment breaking down