Enter & View Visit to Colliers Wood Dialysis Unit
What we did
There had been recent changes to renal services at St George's Hospital in response to findings of the Care Quality Commission's Report from November 2016. These services were relocated from the Knightsbridge Wing quickly and the relocation involved a dispersal of in-patient, dialysis and clinic services to separate locations on the hospital site, and increasing the number of patients using satellite dialysis services off-site provided by a third-party or another NHS Trust.
In the light of these changes, we visited the different parts of the service and to find out about patients’ experiences of services.
The objectives of the visit were to:
- Identify examples of good working practice.
- Observe patients, staff and their surroundings.
- Capture the experience of patients, relatives and visitors and any ideas they may have for improvement.
- Ask patients who had previously used the services in Knightsbridge Wing about how the service changes had affected them.
Prior to the visit, posters and a letter were sent to patients explaining the purpose of the visit and inviting those who could not be interviewed within the time constraints to contact the E&V team by phone or email.
Additionally, the team contacted St George’s Kidney Patients’ Association (SGKPA) for their views and any relevant information they could provide.
On March 31st, the E&V team interviewed a total of twenty-five patients over three sessions: eight in the morning session, fourteen in the afternoon session and three in the evening session.
Most were aged between 60-79 years and had been attending Colliers Wood for between 4-6 years.
The choice of interviewees was governed by practicalities such as whether patients were awake, whether they were in the same bay as someone already interviewed, or that they had indicated their willingness to speak with the team.
The E&V team invited all patients to provide any suggestions for improvement.
Key Findings
The team concluded that, by the time of its visit, the situation at Colliers Wood had settled down.
This was due in large measure to the efforts of management and clinical staff. Patients, with relatively few exceptions, were highly satisfied with their care and treatment.
- Patients had confidence in the team looking after them.
- Medical and nursing staff were praised for being respectful, helpful, and kind.
- Patients appreciated the Unit’s open, airy, clean and comfortable environment, and for having access to Wi-Fi.
- Patients particularly valued the opportunities to socialise with each other and appreciated the ‘can do’ attitude encouraged by the Unit manager and staff.
- Most considered that they received adequate information and were fully involved in discussions about their care.
- Most patients were satisfied with the day and time of their session; even where they had been asked to change, some preferred the new arrangements.
However, patients were now being informed that if they went away on holiday, they could lose their slot upon their return, and may be placed in one of the side rooms. This is long-standing infection control policy of a three-month quarantine for people who have been abroad, and the side rooms are for this purpose.
This information could be made clearer, to avoid generating anxiety among people who are recent arrivals.
- Patient feedback suggested that the staff created a therapeutic environment by their friendly manner and encouraged people to be independent.
- The absence of doctors at the Unit – apart from the Consultant’s visits – was particularly of concern to patients with a notable suggestion to increase the number of staff.
Our recommendations:
- There should be consideration of how nurses might be encouraged to speak more to patients when attaching them to machines, and at other times during a session.
- The role and responsibilities of the ‘named nurse’ should be clarified for patients; to ensure that there is always a supply of information leaflets in languages other than English in the reception area.
- Review the arrangements for organising the provision of headphones and remote controls, to ensure that everyone who wishes to have them may do so.
What happens next
We shared our report with senior staff in charge of the wards. They looked at our findings and recommendations and produced a formal response and action plan about how they could make a few changes to improve patient experiences. You can download their response below.
Download the reports here
If you need these reports in a different format, please e-mail:
enquiries@healthwatchwandsworth.co.uk or call 020 8516 7767
