Enter & View” is carried out under Section 221 of the Health & Social Care Act 2012. It imposes duties on certain health and social care providers to allow authorised representatives of local Healthwatch organisations to enter premises and carry out observations for the purposes of Healthwatch activity.
Healthwatch can enter certain health and social care premises to view the care being provided. This includes premises such as hospitals, care homes and doctors surgeries etc.
Enter and Views can be announced or unannounced.
During the visit Authorised Representatives observe and speak to service users about their experiences of the visited home or ward in order to collect evidence of the quality and standard of the services being provided. We also speak to staff and relatives.
The next step is to write a report which gives an authoritative, evidenced based feedback to organisations responsible for delivering and commissioning services. Those responsible for the service are expected by law to respond back in 21 working days. The reports are then made public.
Healthwatch carries out Enter & View Visits to monitor services based on feedback received from the public. This year, one area of service that Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham is focusing on for patients’ experiences is local GPs.
This visit is part of a programme of visits and looks at areas of service that include:
The purpose of the visit was to observe and engage with patients who access the services at Five Elms Medical Practice.
The main areas looked at were: Access to services Care and treatment Staff conduct
The findings showed that although the surgery had difficulties, patients acknowledged that some improvements had been made in recent months.
However, there were areas of concern which have been highlighted within the report.
This visit was undertaken as a direct result of feedback received from individuals from the local area who knew people using this service.
The following areas were highlighted:
• Some residents not being changed quickly enough after soiling themselves – concerns about dignity.
• Residents often left to sit in an area with a TV on without any personalised activity to stimulate them.
• Availability of staff to support and respond to the needs of residents in a timely way.
This was an unannounced visit that was undertaken as a consequence of feedback and concerns raised about services at this GP surgery.
Feedback received included:
• Waiting times for a doctor's appointment could be up to 4 weeks.
• The consultation with the doctor was rushed and not long enough.
• Reports of rude, unprofessional behaviour from reception staff.
This visit was undertaken as a direct result of feedback from the local community. Overall the visit was postive with some areas of improvements. The hospital trust have welcomed the findings and have provided an action plan to deal with the areas highlighted.
