Whiston Hospital A&E Listening Event - 13 December 2023
Recommendations
- Results from our survey show that patients really appreciate the care and dedication of the staff who work in often difficult circumstances. We ask that the Trust continue to do all it can to support staffing levels and staff wellbeing.
- A&E patients should be given regular updates, where possible, about how long they might have to wait to be seen. Feedback from our survey shows that a lack of information about waiting times is a source of frustration and anxiety for patients.
We ask that the Hospital Trust and service commissioners show how patient feedback has been used to help make decisions about planning and improving service, possibly in the form of regular ‘You said, we did’ updates.
Trust response
Anne Rosbotham-Williams: Deputy Director of Governance - Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Thank you for providing us with the outcome of the listening event that took place in December. The positive feedback has been shared with the staff through the daily huddles. In terms of regularly updating patients on the waiting times, the Department has a patient announcement system in the waiting room designed to update patients each hour, however there have been a number of technical issues which are being addressed with the company. The importance of regularly updating patients will be highlighted in the daily nursing huddle and the importance of informing patients of the triage wait time will be fed back to reception staff as this is not able to be uploaded to the patient announcement system. The ‘You said, We did posters’ are displayed on the patient information board in the waiting room, however, the team will review the position of the board to ensure it is more visible to patients, as well as displaying this in the SDEC area.
The senior team continue to review staffing levels and are proactive in offering support to staff working in this challenging area, through the Trust’s Health, Work and Wellbeing Service, with specific wellbeing events held within the department and regular matron surgeries for staff to attend.
