Patient voices help improve care in Hinchingbrooke Emergency Department
We visited Hinchingbrooke Hospital to talk to patients and find out about their experiences of care. Patients told us that staff were friendly, but it could be busy and people weren’t always getting the privacy they needed.
The report we wrote after this visit made eleven recommendations to improve care. These were based on what we observed and what the 64 people we talked to, told us about their experiences. The hospital developed a plan to improve services based on our recommendations. Since our visit:
- There is now a rota in place to make sure the Emergency Department reception is covered 24 hours a day. This was after we saw long queues develop at the triage desk when reception was not staffed.
- Patients are now triaged in an assessment room when they arrive in the Emergency Department. This was after we raised concerns about confidentiality at the front desk. People were getting confused and also queueing at the triage desk for general enquiries.
- The hospital undertook a dementia assessment of the Emergency Department. They are in the process of re furbishing and have identified a room that can be classified as dementia friendly.
- Regular drinks rounds are offered in Emergency Department cubicles and ambulatory care to those patients that are not Nil by Mouth.
Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees the running of Hinchingbrooke Hospital, said:
“We welcome the support of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in providing such vital feedback on behalf of our patients. We used their findings to put a series of improvements in place to give those people using the Emergency Department at Hinchingbrooke Hospital a better experience.”
