St Paul's Eye Hospital Listening Event Report - January 2025
Introduction
We were pleased to have this opportunity to visit the St Paul’s Eye Unit as we had not visited the service since the move to the new Royal Hospital site, and we were keen to see how it compared to the previous site, and how people were responding to the new facilities and treatment – whether they were new or longstanding patients.
Prior to the visit, we agreed survey questions with the Patient Experience team and St Paul’s staff, and it was also agreed that the survey would be available online for a week before and after the visit to allow additional feedback from patients.
Overall, we received feedback from 31 people; 24 of whom we spoke with on the day and 7 of whom completed the survey online.
On the day of our visit we were met by Mark McKenna (Head of Patient & Family Experience) and Paula Hall (Matron for Ophthalmology) and given a tour of the whole Unit before speaking with patients and family members across a number of areas, including the main Outpatients Reception area, A1, A2, B2, and the Emergency Eye Department.
We were given a copy of the ‘Ophthalmology Wayfinding and Accessibility Action/Improvement Plan’ (Nov 2024) which details how the Trust is already working hard to respond to patient feedback about e.g. signage, floor markers, the car park shuttle, and the challenges presented by the limitations of the available space.
Later in the day we met with Paula Hall and Alison Germain-Martin (Patient Experience & Engagement Manager) to give an initial summary of the patient feedback we’d heard and to highlight any issues arising.
Recommendations
Based on the feedback detailed in the report, we made the following recommendations:
- Improved signage to the St Paul’s Reception, Emergency Department and clinics.
- Improved messaging about who is allowed to accompany patients into clinic waiting areas, and who has priority seating in these areas.
- Clearly signposted mobile telephone charging points throughout the Unit, with a particular focus on the Emergency Eye Department.
- Improved signposting to toilets and refreshments, and improved messaging about how not to lose your place on the clinic lists if you need to leave waiting areas briefly to use these facilities.
To read the detailed response to our report and recommendations, read the full report below.
Downloads
If you need this report in a different format, please email enquiries@healthwatchliverpool.co.uk or call 0300 77 77 007.
