Enter and View Report: Barkantine Practice

One of Healthwatch Tower Hamlets’ statutory functions is to carry out Enter and View visits to Health and Social care service providers in the borough, under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. 

Enter and View visits can be arranged if people tell us there’s a problem with a service but equally, they can also occur when services have a good reputation – so we can learn about what they do well from the perspective of people who experience the service first hand.

During the visit, we observe service delivery and talk with service users, their families, and carers. We also interview management and staff regarding their views of the service provided. The aim is to get an impartial view of how the service is operated and being experienced.

Following the visits, our official ‘Enter and View Report’, will be shared with the service provider, local commissioners and regulators outlining what has worked well, and give recommendations on what could have worked better. The service provider is legally obliged to respond to the recommendations.

Project Background

The purpose of conducting the Enter and View Visit to Barkantine Practice was based on the data sourced from engagement, surveys and comments posted online (NHS Reviews and Google Reviews). In comparison to other GP practices in the area, Barkantine Practice had a high volume of feedback which were significantly negative.

The feedback indicated that the GP practice performed well in specific areas such as Women’s Health but performed poorly when it came to professionalism and communication within the team and with patients. 

The main aim of the visit was to observe how Barkantine Practice operates and how they have acquired such a large volume of feedback from their patients. We also wanted to observe the areas of concern that were raised in patient feedback, therefore questions for staff and patients were formulated in a way to address these concerns, alongside the standard Enter & View observations.

Overall, our visit to Barkantine Practice was deemed a generally positive experience with some areas of improvement identified. The practice excelled aspects such as accessibility, environment and information displayed. The following were the recommendations for improvement, to which the practice manager has responded to within the full report:

1. Clearer signage for the practice entrance. 

2. Various improvements to the reception and waiting area, including more efficiency-based training for the Patient Advisors (reception staff). 

3. Implement regular maintenance and management of fire safety displays, premise maps, noticeboards and leaflet stands. 

4. At the time of the visit, Barkantine Practice had recently implemented a new booking system – monitoring patient feedback at this stage is vital.