Introduction
Women’s health hubs (WHHs) are aimed at improving access to women’s health services and reducing health inequalities. This report collates patient feedback on a new WHH located in Tower Hamlets, a borough of high deprivation and multi-ethnicity. It aims to evaluate patient experience, waiting times, satisfaction, and to identify areas for improvement.
Methodology
1. Friends and family questionnaire (FFQ): Patients completed a questionnaire via a QR code following their WHH appointment.
2. Over 5 weeks all patients who attended 1 st WHH appointments were called and surveyed using a questionnaire developed from validated NHS surveys.
Results
Of 88 telephoned, 45 completed the questionnaire. 78% answered ‘excellent’ for quality, 71% ‘very good’ for overall experience, 96% found staff welcoming and respectful. 71% were seen on time. More patients saw a specialty consultant (57%) compared to a GP (17%), or physio (26%) but were satisfied by who they saw (96%, 87% and 100% respectively). 57.8% were offered a choice of dates, however 17% were not given options. Of 22.2% needing a translator only 50% reported being offered one. 84% were not offered a choice in gender preference of clinician. The FFQ was equally positive with 100% of 60 patients reporting that WHH was good/very good.
Conclusions
Patients reported high levels of satisfaction across all areas and short wait times, supporting the call for more WHHs. Areas for improvement include: offering translators to all, gender preference of clinicians and a wider choice of appointment dates.