News and reports

Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent Public HAB 21 July 2020 at 12pm Minutes

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Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent had undertaken an Enter and View visit in December 2019 to Wards 205 and 206 of the Maternity Unit and it was noted that some negative comments had been received regarding the MAU. The published report stated that Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent would visit the MAU at some point within ‘the next three months’.

Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent were informed verbally by patients that they had had difficulty in making appointments, often due to the unavailability of appropriate staff. Additionally, we had heard there had been difficulties between senior Practice staff and the Practice owner, Dr. Chandra

Home birth as an option is supported by the community midwifery teams from County Hospital or Royal Stoke University Hospital as part of the NHS Mandate. If women wish to choose a home birth the community teams will support this option following individual discussion around the benefits and risks.

Purpose of the visit: part of the program of an ongoing program of visits to health and care facilities across the city and also to allow our visit team to see what changes and progress have been made since our last visit.

Purpose of the visit: The Crisis Care Centre is intended to provide a new, ‘joined up’ service to patients suffering from crisis and has only been operational since October 2019. It was our intention to walk through the Centre and see how the services provided are now offered.

It has fifteen beds and on the day of our visit, there were 13 patients on the ward. This is a mixed-sex ward but all the rooms are single rooms with separate female and male bedroom corridors. It has small quiet rooms off the corridors for patients to access. It also has an outside garden area with tables and seating.

Access to the ward is via a pleasantly decorated wide corridor with a great deal of natural light. Access to the ward can only be gained by buzzing in and waiting for a member of staff to let visitors in.

The ward is a locked ward and entry is via an electronic secure admittance system. Similar to other parts of the hospital, this is primarily for the safety of patients. It has twenty-two beds which are made up of single rooms and four bedded dormitories.

Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent had, during September 2019, received verbal concerns
from a few new mothers. We felt these comments merited a visit and so
accordingly these two wards within the Maternity Unit were added to our Enter
and View schedule.

Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent Advisory Board Meeting