Listening to patients

Senior managers at Barts Health NHS Trust met with local residents across east London this Wednesday to listen to their views about services. Over 50 people, many from local community groups, came to Plaistow library in Newham to talk to decision-makers, including interim chief executive Alwen Williams, about their experiences of care at the Trust’s five hospitals and many clinics across east London.

Members of local Healthwatch organisations, older people groups and representatives from various disability and equalities groups were also in the audience.

Attendees heard from senior managers about a range of work being done across the Trust to improve care, such as recruiting additional nurses to improve staffing levels. Staff are also committed to creating stronger bonds with local community groups and working with them to reduce health inequalities in east London.

People were then giving the opportunity to grade the performance of services using their personal experience of local hospitals and other NHS services. The results and all comments will now be reviewed by service managers to ensure that the care provided reflects the needs and choices of the local community.

Khasruz Zaman, Inclusion and Community Engagement Manager at Barts Health NHS Trust, explained: “We want to listen to the local community about their experience of the services we provide. It’s important that we hear their views so that we know the things that we are doing well, in addition to what we need to do better on, in order to ensure we fully meet their needs.

“Engaging with people about their experience also helps to ensure our response to requirements of the national Equality Delivery System (EDS2) and information gathered from this event will help us to identify any gaps in service provision so that we continue to improve the care we provide.”