A view from the waiting room - Halton Urgent Care Centres

During the visits, a total of 171 people gave their views on their treatment and care.  Of these, 106 were visiting the Widnes UCC and 65 visiting the Runcorn UCC.

• 67% of respondents were female and 33% male.
• 45% of people told us it was the first time they’d used the Centres in the previous 12 months.

Those patients who had used the UCCs previously had averaged 2.6 visits in the past 12 months.

• 62% of people hadn’t looked for help anywhere else before attending the UCCs, up 2% from our previous report.
• 80% (51) of people who had looked for help elsewhere before attending the UCCs, said they’d contacted their GP practice.
• 48% of all respondents told us they would have gone to A&E if the UCCs hadn’t been available.

We’ve noticed during our visits to the two centres this year that patient satisfaction rates have been dropping. While the majority of people using the services are still happy with their treatment and care, there is growing dissatisfaction with longer waiting times for treatment.

There seems to be particular issues at the Widnes UCC. Patients informed us of delays in treatment due to staff shortages and waiting times increasing around the time of staff changeovers.  This has been a recurring issue for more than 12 months and is something that we feel needs to be looked urgently by the commissioner and provider.

Despite the negative feedback, the general feedback we’re receiving is that the majority of people really value the service and appreciate the hard work put in by staff.