Inpatient personal care in Brent

During July and August 2019, Healthwatch Brent explored the experience of inpatient personal care across London North West Healthcare Trust by undertaking an ‘Enter and View’ style approach to eight wards selected by the Trust. They designed an 11-question survey to ask inpatients about their experience of ‘personal care’ during their stay. This included asking patients about their experience and support needs with basic needs relating to continence, personal hygiene and comfort.

The findings indicated that patient satisfaction was high for personal care across the wards, however, some patients reported some concerns about the physical environment on the ward in relation to cleanliness and temperature. To maintain good practice and address areas of improvement, Healthwatch Brent made four recommendations which included passing on the positive feedback to staff, ensuring that patients are kept informed about decisions made about their personal care, address patient concerns about the physical environment on the wards such as routine checks and cleaning of the toilet and shower facilities and review the temperature of Drake ward to ensure patient comfort and improved experience.