Patient experience report - quarter two

This report represents the voices of Lewisham residents during Q2 (July-September). During this period the Patient Experience Programme received 925 feedback comments. Of these comments, 66% (610) comments had a positive rating, 26% (244) were negative and 8% (71) were neutral.

Recommendations

As a result of the findings in this report as well as other recent engagement we identified the following recommendations:

• Provision of clear communication from health and social care services about their current operating hours, service offer and clear communication of any potential changes which would impact upon residents.
• Utilise learning and experience gained following the first wave of the pandemic to help improve access to services including GP and outpatient appointments, blood tests, flu jabs and mental health support.
• Face to face appointments to be considered as an option especially for patients who may not have access to digital equipment that would help with diagnosis. It is vital that residents who might have communication barriers, for example residents who don’t speak English as their first language, have equity of access to services including booking appointments.
• Provision of clear, targeted information looking to challenge the misinformation which is being spread within our communities about flu and COVID-19 vaccines, with focus on our BAME communities.
• Through our engagement, we regularly hear residents praise NHS staff for their caring attitudes and the impact this has on their experiences of services. It is important to ensure staff are notified of positive feedback but for them also to realise the impact a caring attitude can have on a patient who is worried about their health