Enter and view: Urgent Care Centre

Healthwatch Milton Keynes conducted an Enter and View visit to the Milton Keynes Urgent Care Service (MKUCS) on 22 and 24 February 2019. The MKUCS management team asked for this review of people's experiences of this service as some recent improvements had been made and they wanted to gain feedback as to whether these changes were having a positive effect on patient experience. The aim of this visit was to engage with people using the MKUCS particularly around their expectations, their reasons for using the service and recent changes to the booking-in process.

Positive feedback noted included: people said the centre felt welcoming; staff were friendly and helpful; the new triage process was efficient and well-received; and people's experience of their visit to MKUCS was overall very positive. Opportunities for improvement included: ensuring better communication with patients about the process and 'what happens next?'; considering ways to help people pass the time during long waits - such as increasing the provision of digital entertainment and introducing a dedicated, more enclosed children's section within the waiting area. The majority of people were at the MKUCS because they were having difficulty accessing an appointment with their own GP practice.

Healthwatch Milton Keynes made recommendations around: making the booking-in and triage process clear to people; improving communication to manage patients' expectations; improving the waiting area environment; engaging with local service users to gain further insight into the potential need for and design of an appointment system. MKUCS responded positively to these recommendations and outlined the ways in which they have been and will continue to be addressed.