Whiston & St Helens Hospitals Listening Events report - September to October 2024
In total, 32 people took part across the three sessions.
Due to the number of responses received the views and experiences expressed cannot be considered representative of all patients. The report is presented to provide a snapshot of the experiences of those who took part and to highlight areas for consideration by the Trust.
Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust response
We are pleased to see that satisfaction rates remain high, with 92% of patients and visitors rating their treatment and care as ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ but note that there has been a slight drop in the percentage of patients rating their care as 4 or 5 stars from the previous Healthwatch visit. Our staff will continue to work hard to ensure that our patients and visitors feel that we do everything we can to meet their needs.
Some of the areas for improvement that have been highlighted in the report including waiting in ED for a bed continues to be a part of focussed efforts and constitutes part of the National in-patient survey action plan. ED is facing significant challenges that are not unique to this Trust. This is not the service that we aim to provide, and we acknowledge that this can add anxiety at an already difficult time. Additional methods for communicating with patients to explain the process of treatment in ED and provide updates on waiting times is being explored further by the senior nursing team. Additional monitoring methods to ensure that the care patients receive in ED is at a high standard are also being developed.
Pharmacy waits are also mentioned. For the safety of patients, there are 5 different steps involved in dispensing every item of medication. There are approximately 400 prescriptions, many with multiple items contained, that are dispensed at each of our hospital sites every day. In order that patients can better understand the processes involved and hear about all the service improvements in pharmacy, our pharmacy colleagues have been invited to present to the Trust Patient Participation Group in January. Any patient can join this Group by contacting Yvonne.Mahambrey@sthk.nhs.uk . Membership is a great way for patients to be involved in shaping services. We thank patients for their patience when waiting for medicines.
We are pleased that those areas that have been highlighted for improvement by some patients have also received positive feedback from others. It is especially pleasing to note that a very high percentage patients feel that staff are friendly and helpful, patients find our hospitals accessible and that all patients feel that staff have enough time to spend with them and that they are given enough information about their treatment and care. It is also pleasing to see that our amazing volunteer and gardening services have also been mentioned.
Yvonne Mahambrey, Quality Matron – Patient Experience
