Whiston Hospital A&E Watch - 13 January 2020
This report focuses on Whiston A&E and is a joint report between Healthwatch in Halton, Knowsley and St. Helens.
On the day we visited, 94% of the people we spoke for part 1 of our survey, with rated their experience as being at least 3 out of 5. 54% rated their experience as excellent (5 out of 5). Positive comments focussed on the staff and their attitudes and efforts even though A&E was busy.
Overall, people’s experiences at A&E were positive. Drops in ratings were almost all due to long waits and lack of communication.
Long waiting times may be more difficult to improve on as the recent pressures on A&E continue. We do feel that communication to the patient about delays and timings could be improved on. Most of the people we’ve talked with at A&E and on our previous visits to the hospital, tell us they’d be more understanding of long waiting times if they were kept more informed on the reasons for them.