Enter and View - Northwick Park Hospital Evelyn Ward

Healthwatch Enter and Views are arranged to find out how health and social care services are being run, and make recommendations where there are areas for improvement.

Key Information

• Overall, we found the ward to be a clean, well maintained environment where a good level of care is provided.
• We witnessed a positive relationship between staff members and management.
• Regarding the treatment of dementia patients, we found the ward to be a ‘dementia friendly’
  environment, with its bays painted in distinctive colours and clear signage indicating the name of
  the ward and the bathrooms.

Key Recommendations

• Whilst the ward was generally a ‘dementia friendly’ environment, Authorised Representatives noted that the toilet equipment did not contrast in colour, there were no large clocks in the bays and, aside from the toilet signs, there was no other signage for helping dementia patients to navigate the ward. Recommendation: management to introduce dementia friendly clocks in bays additional signage and bathroom equipment of contrasting colours.
• During the visit, one of the Authorised Representatives noted that some of the noticeboards were slightly cluttered and used a small font size, which might make information less accessible for elderly patients. Recommendation: management to amend the ward’s noticeboards.
• The Evelyn ward receives a particularly high number of dementia patients and whilst training is encouraged, it is not mandatory. During an interview, we were informed that
  approximately 50% of the ward’s staff have received dementia training. Healthwatch Ealing feel that all staff could benefit from mandatory training, to ensure that each member of staff is comfortable providing care for patients with dementia.