Whiston Hospital Children's A&E department Listening Event - 29 April 2024
This visit was arranged in advance and took place to understand the reasons why people were attending, specifically whether they had attempted to access any other services prior to going to A&E.
Listening Events allows Healthwatch to gather the experiences of individuals, which provides additional rich and detailed information, enhancing the statistics regarding A&E attendance.
The visit took place to Whiston Children’s A&E department on 29 April 2024 between 10.00am and 3.00pm.
This report is based on the responses from the 31 people who completed our survey.
Summary
Children’s A&E provides a much better experience for parents and children than in the main A&E department.
The area is very clean and offers a pleasant environment for patients, and offers some really good facilities, such as baby rooms, drinks etc.
People’s experiences
- 74% of people thought the service received in A&E was ‘good’ or ‘amazing’. 13% rated their experience as being poor or very poor.
- 62% said they had been kept updated on their child’s care and treatment.
- 90% said their child’s privacy had been maintained as much as possible during the time at A&E.
- 83% said they had not been kept regularly informed about any waiting times or delays.
What could be better
- Booking in issues
- Waiting times
- Lack of a quiet area
Trust response
Yvonne Mahambrey, Quality Matron – Patient Experience - Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Thank you for providing the report on the recent joint visit to Children’s A&E by Healthwatch Halton, Healthwatch Knowsley and Healthwatch St Helens on 29 April 2024. We appreciate the additional opportunity this allows to review and improve our services.
As a result of a recent recruitment programme, six new administration clerks have been recruited to address the gaps that has resulted in parents and children being required to enter the Main Department to register attendance. Moving forward, the paediatric ED reception area will be staffed 07:00-23:00 daily. As an interim measure, staff are being asked to contact the ED reception when a child arrives to ask staff to book in with children’s ED. Signage is also being reviewed by our Estates and facilities Department. There are also plans for the addition of an electronic screen to display up-to date waiting times and other information like the system used in the main A&E area.
There is a designated cubicle in ED for patients with any additional needs such as children with Autism / ADHD. We will ensure that signage is also adequate requesting parents to approach a member of staff if they require the use of the facility.
