In July 2023, we worked with Circle North Hampshire MSK (musculoskeletal) service to produce a report about patient experiences with their service. The free service they provide for NHS patients includes physiotherapy, podiatry and hand therapy.
After a review meeting a few weeks ago, we have discovered they have put lots of our recommendations into action! This includes producing a pre-appointment leaflet to explain what to expect and how to find the service, which should be ready in the near future.
As Healthwatch, we work to listen to your voices and experiences and feed them back to services. That's why it is so great to work with a service who embraces the culture of listening to their patients, and is always wanting to improve and grow.
Here are some of the steps they made following our recommendations:
• Improved signage around the site to help people get around
• Improved recording of, and response to, accessibility information by asking people directly what their access and communications needs are, allowing them to offer make appropriate adjustments if needed
• Development of an online portal to allow patients to choose the date and time of their appointments – this should hopefully go live later this year
• Staggered lunch breaks for receptionists to ensure someone is always there, plus getting a digital check in system
• The contact centre has been given information packs for each clinic so that they can give patients specific information about their appointment location
• Many more
This illustrates how your feedback really can make a difference. Please have your say about health and social care services in Hampshire.