Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre
We carried out five visits to the Runcorn UTC between 30 October 2023 and 23 November 2023.
Each visit lasted between two and three hours and in total 113 people took the time to give us their experience.
Summary
Our visits to the Runcorn UTC took place on the following dates:
- 30 October 2023
- 6 November 2023
- 17 November 2023
- 23 November 2023
- 29 November 2023
In total 113 patients took time to give us their views.
During these visits, as with previous visits, we observed staff treating patients with dignity and respect and being helpful and courteous to patients, which is also reflected in the comments we collected.
As is shown in the feedback we’ve collected the UTC service is generally well valued by the people using it. The service continues to offer an excellent alternative for many patients who may have previously gone to A&E.
It continues to support a steady stream of patients, from Halton and increasingly from neighbouring areas, that are unable to get suitable appointments at their own GP practices and see the UTC as a viable alternative for treatment.
Suggestions and Recommendations
These suggestions and recommendations are made for both the service provider and service commissioners.
1. Ensure that the UTC continues to be promoted as an easily accessible alternative to A&E for all patients with urgent care needs.
2. Encourage the public to make more use of the NHS 111 service (telephone and online) when they have an urgent unexpected healthcare need, as NHS 111 can direct patients to the most appropriate service; this may be an urgent or same day appointment at the UTC, rather than A&E.
3. We ask that the Hospital Trust and service commissioners look at ways to show how this patient feedback has been used to help make decisions about planning and improving services, possibly in the form of regular ‘You said, we did’ updates.
4. We are aware of the constraints of space on the service, but due to feedback received on these and previous visits, from families with young children, we believe there’s a need to review the suitability of the waiting area for families with very young children.
Service Provider response
Thank you for the report. The report and feedback will be communicated to the Lead Nurses of UTC. The Lead Nurses will revisit the areas to look at improvements.
Additionally, we will share the positive feedback with the UTC teams.
Claire Grice - Warrington & Halton Hospitals Interim Head of Patient Experience and Inclusion
