Opening doors: enhancing hospital visiting for patients, visitors, carers and staff
Download (PDF 612.46 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Kirklees and Healthwatch Calderdale were asked by Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust (CHFT) to engage with people in our areas regarding the current visiting options at Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Healthwatch and CHFT wanted to know what patient, visitor, carer and staff experiences of hospital visiting is like so that this feedback could be used to shape the future visiting policy set by CHFT.
The engagement project gathered detailed feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, including patients, visitors, carers, and hospital staff. The objective was to identify areas for improvement in visiting times, visitor numbers, and accessibility, as well as to uncover potential barriers faced by different demographic groups.
The report represents 503 people's experiences.
The data was collected during September 2024.
The findings point to a strong desire for more flexible visiting times, particularly to accommodate carers and visitors with family or work commitments. Parking costs and availability emerged as significant barriers, especially for those from lower-income backgrounds or those with disabilities. Feedback also suggested that certain demographic groups, such as ethnic minorities and carers, experience greater challenges when visiting. Based on these findings, we have developed a set of recommendations to improve accessibility, reduce barriers, and ensure the visiting policy better meets the needs of all involved.
There are practical things CHFT could put in place to ensure visiting experience is improved for all, including offering virtual visits, having a volunteering team to support those who have no visitors and to support staff during visiting times, and having structured quiet times on wards.
CHFT are currently working on an action plan to meet the recommendations.