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.
Visiting services
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.
We will talk to people who use the service, their family, carers and staff to help us understand what is being offered.
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 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 were put on hold in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however we are delighted that we have now got them back up and running again.
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 - Unity House
Healthwatch County Durham carried out an announced Enter and View visit to Unity House on 13 October 2025 to gather the views and experiences of residents, relatives, visitors, and staff, and to observe the environment and quality of care being provided. Unity House is run by Lifeways Community Care Limited and was rated Good by the Care Quality Commission at the time of the visit.
Report
Enter and View - Hawthorn House
This report presents the findings from our authorised representatives' 'Enter and View' visit to Hawthorn House on 10th September 2025, where they gathered valuable feedback from service users.
Report
Enter and View - County Durham Community Mental Health Units
This report presents the findings from our authorised representatives' 'Enter and View' visit across all Community Mental Health Teams in County Durham between February 2024 and January 2025, where they gathered valuable feedback from service users and staff.
Report