Whipps Cross University Hospital

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Patients we spoke with felt staff did not always communicate with them in a way they could understand. They said their privacy and dignity was not always respected especially those who were being cared for in temporary areas of the department due to overcrowding. Staff collaborated with other experienced colleagues to provide support for people with mental ill health including children but were not always able to provide the support required due to the level of staffing. Staff did not always listen or act on people’s needs including contacting family or friends. We saw patients being ignored by staff when they approached staff to ask questions or request support. However, people in the children’s ED told us they felt staff supported them. They felt staff had time to talk to them and listen to their concerns.

This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff did not always treat people with kindness. Some people we spoke with felt staff did not always listen to them or communicate with them in a way they could understand. They said their privacy and dignity was not always respected. Those who were being held in temporary areas of the department due to crowding said staff were doing their best to support them, but they waited a long time and did not always have someone to raise their concerns to because staff were not visible in the corridors a lot of the time. The corridor was narrow and there were no screens or curtains to protect the privacy and dignity of people. People in the children’s ED told us they felt staff supported them. They felt staff had time to talk to them and listen to their concerns.

We saw staff that were stressed and stretched who were trying to provide care in very difficult circumstances. Staff tried as best they could to collaborate with other experienced colleagues to provide support for people with mental ill health, including children, but were not always able to provide the support required with patient’s emotional wellbeing. This was due to the level of staffing.

Staff working in the children’s ED supported children and their families in decision making about their care and treatment. Staff understood the process to assess whether a child had the competence to make their own decisions and give consent to any care or treatment.

Staff did not always listen or act on people’s needs including contacting family or friends. We saw patient’s being ignored by staff when they approached staff to ask questions or request support. Staff did not routinely lock patient records when they moved away from computer screens to maintain confidentiality. We saw multiple computers throughout the department which were not locked and therefore patient records could be accessed by anyone passing by.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Independence, choice and control during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.