Wards and clinics across Lincolnshire’s hospitals have been getting feedback on their environments from a patient perspective, with a mystery shopper project being run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
The mystery shopper project started in October 2018 in collaboration with Healthwatch Lincolnshire, after it was recognised that the hospital areas would benefit from the feedback received directly from the public.
Mystery shoppers, our Trust patient representatives, have been have visiting wards and departments to do an at-a-glance assessment of the quality of information available, noticeboards, how welcoming the area is and how clean and tidy it appears.
Following these visits the feedback forms are sent to the staff in charge of the ward/ department. The teams can then discuss the feedback and act upon it.
Since October, 37 wards and departments across the Trust have been visited and assessed. The feedback received has been very constructive and whilst highlighting the good work it also points out areas that could be improved.
The general themes have been around access to the wards/ departments, where a heavy door might be a barrier to our patients and public or where there is a lack information displayed in different languages.
The staff have welcomed the comments and found the feedback very useful. Kate Porter, Sister on Ingham Ward at Lincoln County Hospital, said: “It is always really helpful to know which areas can be improved and positive feedback is always much appreciated.”
The mystery shopper project is ongoing as it has proven to be a positive and encouraging approach for communicating the patient perspective directly to our staff.
ULHT and Healthwatch would like to thank all our mystery shoppers for their time and commitment. Your support and patient perspective is vital and much appreciated by all our staff.
To find out more about becoming a patient representative and taking part in this and other projects, please become a Trust member.