Medical and surgical dressing services
Download (PDF 721.68 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham are the voice of local people, groups and networks. They are independent and therefore do not have a pre-set agenda or a pre-determined interest in influencing the outcome of the results of consultations and surveys. This document represents a collective public response to a survey and is a random sample. This has been conducted impartially - Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham have no organisational view. Some people contacted Healthwatch and told us that their experience of using the district nursing service was not a positive one.
To get the necessary information, Healthwatch contacted the NELFT Integrated Community Services Manager. They provided assistance, to distribute a Healthwatch questionnaire to patients using the wound dressing service.
Out of 100 surveys distributed to patients in their homes; Healthwatch received only 33 completed responses back. 94% of respondents said that their nurse spent enough time with them on each visit. Over 90% of patients said that communication with the service is good to excellent. For example, 100% of respondents were told they would be having treatment, however, only 85% of them indicated they were given a written care plan. For access to the service out of hours, 30 (91%) people indicated that they were given contact details; 2 (6%) people did not respond and 1 (3%) person said they were not given contact details for the out of hours service. Of those that did contact the service out of hours; the level of satisfaction was lower, as some patients said they didn’t get any response either to their call or any answer phone messages they left. Some people – 7 (21%) – say that when nurses have visited them, equipment and dressings were not available for when it was needed during their appointment; rendering the visit a waste of time and the patient not getting the service they should have received.
This report contains 2 recommendations specifically around appointment times and the supply of dressing available.