Walsall Manor Hospital Accident and Emergency Department Report 2017

This report is based on the 79 responses received from people who had used A&E services. There is a shared waiting room at the Manor Hospital for A&E and the GP led Urgent Care Centre and 20% pf respondents to the survey said that they did not know which reception to go to when they first arrived. It was also observed that a number of people were re-directed between the two reception areas when they arrived at the department.

Long waiting times were a key area of concern for respondents and there was a range of comments in relation to it. Although most people said that they had been kept informed about waiting times a number of people felt that there was a lack of communication with them about waiting times and reasons for delays.

Communication, in general, was commented on and some of it centered on being kept informed about waiting times but there was also comment about the lack of availability of interpreters as well as a need to be more responsive to individual needs where patients had communication difficulties such as hearing loss or memory problems. There was a comment about a lack of communication between different medical staff and how that was dealt with by staff at the hospital to ensure that the patient was not disadvantaged by the lack of shared information. Some respondents also raised concerns about medical staff not listening to them although the majority of respondents did feel that they were listened to be the staff in the department.