What’s it like being in a hospital waiting room? People’s views: Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Download (PDF 5.99 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Birmingham undertook research about the quality of service in waiting rooms in Birmingham Hospitals following feedback from the public. This report presents the results for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The research was based on feedback directly from patients who were in hospital waiting rooms, an online questionnaire, in-depth interviews and focus groups with other third-sector organisations to collect the experiences of people who have a visual and/or hearing impairment. They spoke to 36 people about their experiences at this hospital.
Many people said they had a good general experience of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, with reasonable waiting times in most departments and particular praise for staff who were helpful and kind. However, there were concerns raised about the waiting room environment, particularly for patients who have sensory sensitivity, or visual and/or hearing impairments. Sometimes refreshments were not easily available. People wanted to see improvements in the process of calling patients to appointments.
The report contains 7 recommendations designed to address the issues uncovered by this research. It also contains a response from the provider outlining the changes it intends to make as a result.