Enter and view: Watford General Hospital and St Albans City Hospital

Healthwatch Hertfordshire is the independent health and social care champion. Local Healthwatch is in place to gather the views and experiences of people accessing services, to use this information to influence decisions and to provide information and advice to the local community about health and social care services.

These Enter and View visits are ‘announced’ visits. A request from West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) was made for some independent feedback prior to the Trust’s CQC inspection. It was agreed that Healthwatch Hertfordshire would make 3 Enter and View visits (2 to Watford General Hospital and 1 to St Albans City Hospital) . Healthwatch Hertfordshire visited Watford General Hospital 07 August 2017, 10.30 – 14.30, St Albans City Hospital 09 August 2017, 10.30 - 14.00 and

Watford General Hospital 11 August 2017, 10.30 – 14.00.

The report informed Healthwatch Hertfordshire spoke to over 50 patients and relatives and visited 14 departments and wards. The majority of patients rated their experience as good or very good with many saying how hard the staff worked and how caring they were. Staff came across as professional yet friendly when we visited the wards. Staff did not always use the ‘Hello my name is..’ phrase but always greeted the volunteers and introduced themselves. If they were unsure of who we were, we were always asked in a non confrontational way which still felt welcoming. Some excellent interactions between staff and patients were observed with Bluebell ward showing outstanding care and support. In outpatients nobody complained about long waits though people expected to wait and came prepared just in case. Hand gel was available everywhere and none tested were empty.

The report informed there were inconsistencies around who actually had a Patient Carer and Visitor bedside guide with patients at St Albans City hospital appearing not to have any. Generally, though there was information about the staff on duty, there were no staff photographs except on Flaunden ward. Most patients, unless they had walked or came by bus, mentioned car parking and the cost of it as an issue. The Trust is very aware of this and has put a number of initiatives in place to ease the situation. The PayByPhone automated telephone appeared to be temperamental but the mobile App worked well. Concessionary parking, carers benefits and help if the outpatient appointment runs over need to be more widely advertised.

Communication around delays and what happens next need to be consistent, timely and more detailed. For example letting patients know that emergency admissions may mean increased waiting time or explaining the process as to why it takes several hours to receive medication on the day of discharge.

The report includes 14 recommendations and does include a response from the provider.