Enter and View: Blakelands Hospital (Ramsey Health)

We were invited to carry out an Enter and View at Blakelands Hospital, Milton Keynes by the Clinical Lead at the Hospital. They have not had a CQC visit since 2017, but have had a recent internal ‘peer review’ from the Ramsey corporate team. We last visited in January of 2023 and, following that visit, the Hospital had taken onboard our suggestions and felt that a further person-centred visit would complement the hospitals ethos of patient and staff first engagement.

Summary

Blakelands Hospital is a purpose-built day surgery unit also offering outpatient facilities for the assessment and treatment of patients. Treatments offered at the Hospital include cataract surgery, hernia repairs, knees, hand, ankle and foot surgery, anal procedures, spinal injections and Endoscopy. 

Whilst Blakelands treat privately insured and self-funding patients, a high proportion of their patients (90.23%) are referred from the NHS.

What we found

Friendly and professional staff greet patients on arrival. Accessibility of reception directly in front of the main, automatic, doors was appreciated by patients regardless of the reason for their visit. During our visit staff were observed to be caring, proactive, positive, and professional at all times ensuring patients received a positive and relaxed experience. 

Everyone we spoke to said they couldn’t fault any member of staff. The only issues that we heard about were related to insufficient parking, a system issue with an online form, and the speed of postal appointments.

What patients told us

"They were really kind, put me at ease."

"Just lovely."

Our recommendations include:

• Patients who had colonoscopy appointments found Blakelands own information about the procedure was good, but the medication information was less clear. We suggested that Blakelands rewrite the information to simplify the instructions to make it easier to understand and follow.
• The online Health Questionnaire seems to present difficulties with several patients believing they had completed it online but were subsequently asked to complete a hard copy document on arrival. As this may be a system issue, we recommended looking into this.
• As a number of patients said they had missed calls and voice messages regarding rescheduled appointment times, we recommend an alternative such as using a text system where people can reply yes/ no to confirm receipt or agreement of the changed time.

We found these examples of best practice:

• Notice in reception for patients: 'If you have been waiting more than 25 minutes please go to reception.'
• Environmental Care: ensuring neighbouring residents are not disturbed by parking or deliveries, asking delivery drivers not to park on residential roads for their breaks but to park in staff parking area.
• Patient Care: Out of hours contact number - this is a day unit so having a contact number for out of hours is good customer service and provides peace of mind.

We would like to thank staff at Blakelands Hospital for their prompt response to this report, and for their commitment to putting into action some of the recommendations.