What happens during and after an Enter & View visit?
- Enter & View is usually carried out by a small team of 2 to 4 people. There is an allocated team leader for each visit, this may be a staff member or a volunteer. Every Enter and View visit has a theme such as dignity and respect, activities in a care home, nutrition and hydration, appointment booking systems etc.
- On arrival at the health or care setting the team leader will ask to speak to the most senior staff member on duty to introduce the visit. This might be a care home manager, ward manager or a senior care worker, nurse etc.
- If the visit is unannounced, the team leader will present a letter explaining the purpose of the visit. If the visit is announced, the service will have received this information in advance from the Healthwatch staff team.
- The team leader will request where the team can and can't go within the premises. Senior staff often provide a tour of the service so the team can familiarise themselves with the setting.
- Enter & View Representatives observe the services and premises, talk to residents, patients, servce users, staff, relatives and carers to gather their views on services provided using Healthwatch observation sheets and questionnaires.
- After the visit the infromation that has been gathered is written up into a report and sent to the service to check for accuracies. The service has 20 working days to respond to Healthwatch recommendations.
- The report will be published after 20 working days whether the service provider has responded to the recommendations or not.