Enter and view: Out-patients at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, North East Lincolnshire

Aim: To gain the experiences of patients. This is an announced visit due to recommendations from the previous visit on 19th October 2015. We spoke to 32 out-patients across the 4 out-patient zones on the 2 visits

Staff were friendly and co-operative and we saw some signs of improvements since our visit in October 2015, but we believe that further actions are needed to improve the patient experience.

The décor and hygiene/cleanliness in all four out-patient areas appeared good with sanitizer dispensers available for use. The layout of these areas was generally good but in Zone 1 patient concerns were raised about it feeling crowded and in Zone 4 repeated comments were made about heat/stuffiness and how it felt in the waiting corridor (see observations below). No trip hazards were evident in any area. All staff appeared smart and all wore ID badges. We particularly note speaking to a member of staff who had managed to fix her broken yellow badge to her ID badge while awaiting its replacement. Privacy is maintained in all zones through the use of individual consulting rooms. We would particularly want to thank staff for their pleasantry throughout these visits both to ourselves and to patients.

We concluded that while there may have been some improvements they do not appear significant and that there remain significant issues in some specialties where current resources struggle in the face of persistently high demands. 10 further recommendations were made.