Enter and View
We have the legal right to visit places that provide publicly funded health or adult social care services to find out about people's experiences. Our powers to enter and view let us visit health and social care services to find out what level of care is provided to users.
About our Enter and View visits
Enter and View visits allow Healthwatch County Durham to see health and social care services in action and hear directly from the people who use them.
We will talk to people who use the service, their family, carers and staff to help us understand what is being offered.
We use the feedback people share with us to help decide which local services to visit, focusing on what matters most to patients, residents and their families.
Visits can be:
- Announced – where the service knows we are coming
- Unannounced – where no advance notice is given
Most of our visits are announced. Unannounced visits are only carried out when we believe this is the best way to ensure people are receiving safe, high-quality care.
After the visit
After our visit we will write and publish a report detailing our findings. We share this report with the people who make the decisions about the service and work with the service providers to help them make positive changes based on our recommendations.
We normally publish our report for the public to read about 8 weeks after a visit.
Our Enter and View visits are a key part of work programme, allowing us to gather people's experiences and help improve services.
Our Enter and View policy
Our enter and view work is done using legal powers given to us by the act of Parliament that set up Healthwatch.
We have a duty to write reports and make recommendations to improve services.
Meet our Enter and View team
Our enter and view staff and volunteers have a standard DBS check and are trained to a high standard.
They will wear an official badge to identify themselves when visiting a service on our behalf.
Our latest reports
Enter and View - Brandon Lodge
Healthwatch County Durham visited Brandon Lodge under our statutory powers known as Enter and View. We publicised our visit two weeks prior. In order to capture as many residents and their families as possible, we left surveys and a ‘post box’ to be completed and left for our return. During the visit we asked residents about 4 areas of their care; communication, environment, social preferences and the staff and service.
Report
Enter and View - Beaconsfield Court Care Home
Healthwatch County Durham visited Beaconsfield Court Care Home to understand residents’ experiences and assess the quality of care provided. Overall, the home is described as caring, friendly, and homely, with residents feeling safe and generally well supported.
Report
Enter and View - Kensington Hall Care Home
Healthwatch County Durham visited Kensington Hall Care Home to understand residents’ experiences and assess the quality of care provided. Despite a flood - which was being fixed at the time of visit - staff were calm and had arranged alternative access to water and acquired additional blankets and clothing for the residents because of the lack of heating.
Report