Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Healthwatch City of London undertook research on PALS after receiving a number of queries about access and the visibility of the service.  They undertook mystery shopping online and in person to understand access issues.  The report details access at all the hospitals in east, central and north London.

Overall, the most consistently used method to reach PALS was via the search bar on the homepage of each website. This is a well-known and accessible method of being able to find the information needed on the PALS services. However, methods such as through a direct link on the homepage or via a site map, should still be available. People accessing this information may have various levels of both digital and health literacy, so Trusts should be providing as many options as possible to be able to find and access the information that is required. 

There is a lack of consistency between hospitals with regard to the language used when talking about PALS, but also in terms of where the information about PALS is located. This could be confusing for some, particularly if they are not familiar with PALS or what technical language means. 

There are a number of accessibility tools that services could be utilising - however, most are not. Tools such as screen readers and magnification are used the least, which makes the PALS information on a website inaccessible to a large number of people. This is also the case with translation tools as there is a vast difference in the number of languages offered as well as the functionality. 

There are many ways to contact PALS - however this is another area of inconsistency as there are differing options of contact depending on which hospital people are visiting. All hospitals offer phone, email, and walk-in options for contacting their PALS service, but online, postal and other methods aren’t always used and vary in availability. Hospitals should be offering a range of diverse ways to contact their PALS and utilise alternative methods in order to be more accessible. There is an opportunity to expand with the ever-growing digital world and make use of video appointments if appropriate for the patient as this could reduce the turnaround time as well. 

Of hospitals researched, 35% didn’t specify a turnaround time for PALS enquiries. This should be listed on every PALS website to ensure the service is transparent and patients are aware of the time frame they should expect. This would enable patients to be in control of their PALS experience and means they know what to expect from their enquiry. 

From the in-person visits, Healthwatch was able to establish that PALS services within each hospital are not always well signposted and not all staff are aware of the services on offer/how to access them. There was a variety of responses when Healthwatch asked staff where to find PALS at each hospital, some were able to explain where it was and were helpful in their directions on how to find the office however some were not aware there was a PALS office on site or didn’t know how to find it. Healthwatch will be addressing these issues with the hospitals in the aim to rectify these issues and ensure PALS is accessible for all.