1. Background
From February 2021, Healthwatch Kingston upon Hull and CityCare started planning on how we could work together to develop a ‘Meet and Greet’ service at one of their community hubs, the Orchard Park Health Centre.
We agreed that the service would run three days a week, Monday to Wednesdays, 10 AM to 2 PM from 6th September to 13th December 2021, where we would gather experiences of and provide practical support to those who visit and use services within the Centre.
Who are CityCare?
CityCare provide advice, investment, development and estate management services and work with public sector providers and commissioners to deliver a more integrated Health and Social Care delivery system and a fully utilised, fit for purpose estate to support it.
Over the last ten years, CityCare has worked in partnership with the NHS and the Local Authority to create community hubs placed within the heart of neighbourhoods containing the practices and services needed by the local population.
2. Engagement
Between September and December 2021, Healthwatch Kingston upon Hull engaged with 547 visitors of the Orchard Park Health Centre. The total reasons for engagement came to 694 as some visitors approached Healthwatch for more than a single reason.
503 (72%)
were to signpost visitors.
159 (23%)
were to provide information and advice.
Sentiment of Experiences
We were also provided with 32 experiences of local services
The following are just a few examples of what visitors had to say about services within the Orchard Park Health Centre:
“I couldn’t get through into see Haxby in Kingswood and so I had an appointment booked at Orchard Park. I saw a nurse and spoke to her about how I’ve been feeling; later that day a doctor from Orchard Park called me up and said that he’s heard about how I’ve been feeling and wants to make sure I’m doing okay. He said he wanted to arrange a blood test to be on the safe-side and he scheduled it in that week. I’ve now got a follow up appointment in three weeks and I couldn’t be happier with the level of service I was provided.”
“Fantastic attitude from staff, the layout of the dentist was perfect for her disabled child and it was quiet so met his sensory needs. There is a lack of Makaton / Braille in the building which would make navigation difficult if someone did not have support.”
“Patient explained they had been waiting for a chiropody appointment for five months and has sent photos and his wife was also waiting for an appointment. He is a diabetic and felt his ailment was not being taken seriously.”
“CHCP Staff are really professional and friendly, they provided all the information and advice that we needed. Signposting within the building could be more adequate however as not sure where to go on arrival.”
3. Observations
As part of the Healthwatch remit, we also look at how services could be improved from a lay-person perspective. Healthwatch found during our time at the Orchard Park Health Centre 10 improvements which may improve visitor experience.
70%
related to modified signage to increase awareness of services and accessibility.
30%
were practical improvements to assist with visitor physical and mental wellbeing.
We also highlighted
that sound from rainfall on the roof can be overwhelming and may be overstimulating for those with sensory issues.
The following are just a few examples of the improvements we identified:
- To review signage and develop signage which stands out. Some signage in the building has a white background and is mounted against a white wall, making it difficult to read.
- To provide signage in alternative formats; such as Easy-Read (Pictorial), Audio and Braille.
- To look into changing the speed of escalators. There has been instances where older individuals and those with physical impairments have attempted to use them and struggled.
- To remove the arrows placed on the floor leading away from Boots pharmacy. These presented as a problem for an individual with learning difficulties as they were unable to understand they could go into the pharmacy.
- To have a dedicated on-site mental first aider. Healthwatch was made aware a visitor had expressed feeling suicidal however there was no-one equipped to offer immediate support.
4. CityCare Feedback
To understand the impact of the ‘Meet and Greet’ service, we asked City Care and tenants whether they had any information or feedback to highlight the benefit of the service.
Following the end of the project, CityCare provided the following statement:
“Healthwatch have provided a great deal of support for not only the patients visiting our health centre, but also our tenants. We have had a great deal of positive comments and also some fantastic comments on areas for improvement, which we very pleased to now be progressing with.
We would never have been able to get the patients opinions and feedback the way we have if it wasn’t for Healthwatch being on site, so a big thank you to them for allowing us to benefit from the service they provide.
From the feedback, we heard that the signage across The Orchard Centre was unclear and didn’t stand out enough for patients when visiting the health centre.
From this feedback, we now have a whole new design of the signage which we will be installing in the New Year. We have made it much more colourful and brighter and are changing the areas where it is installed so that it stands out as much as possible. If it wasn’t for the feedback from Healthwatch, we wouldn’t have known about these issues and therefore be able to make things better and easier for the building users.”
5. Overall Findings
September
was our busiest month with a total of 255 (36.8%) enquiries
Wednesday’s
were our busiest day receiving a total of 193 (35.3%) enquiries
Engagement Trends
- We received more experiences on Mondays
- We provided more information / advice on Tuesdays
- We signposted more visitors on Wednesdays
6. Conclusion
Between September and December 2021, Healthwatch Kingston upon Hull attended the Orchard Park Health Centre to provide a ‘Meet and Greet’ service to visitors on a Monday to Wednesday basis, 10 AM – 2 PM.
By the end of the project, Healthwatch provided the service on 42 separate days and engaged with 547 visitors. From this engagement, we provided signposting 503 times, information to visitors 159 times and gathered visitors’ experiences of local services 32 times.
We also attended two meetings with City Care and Tenants to provide updates and information to them regarding the project and to ask for their support in directing visitors to our service to provide feedback about their experiences.
Healthwatch identified a total of 10 actions we felt would improve the visitor experience and assist visitors to more easily access the services they need. We also highlighted one concern relating to the design of the building which may cause sensory issues to some individuals.
CityCare advised they had taken on board the improvements we identified and were in the process of reviewing and implementing solutions. They also acknowledged the concern we highlighted with the building design.
We found Wednesday was most commonly the busiest day for the service as we engaged with a total of 193 visitors on this day, throughout the entire project. This compared to 178 on Tuesdays and 176 on Mondays.
Healthwatch also identified that there was a gradual decline in visitors from September to December 2021 as COVID-19 rates increased and seasonal weather took hold.
Following the end of the project, Healthwatch was informed by City Care that they were satisfied with the delivery of the project and found benefits of having the ‘Meet and Greet’ service at the Orchard Park Health Centre.