What is Enter and View?
Healthwatch have a legal power to visit health and social care services and see them in action. More detail on these powers is available here.
This power to Enter and View services offers a way for Healthwatch to undertake their statutory functions and to identify what is working well with services and where they could be improved.
Our Enter and View role is different to an inspection. We focus on what it is like for people receiving care. We provide extra eyes and ears, especially for the most isolated and vulnerable. Visiting places where people receive care is a powerful way for us to hear directly from individuals about their experiences of services.
Publicly-funded health and care organisations must allow authorised representatives from Healthwatch to Enter & View and observe activities on premises controlled by the provider, as long as this does not affect the provision of care or the privacy and dignity of people using services.
These powers do not extend to Enter and View of services relating to local authorities’ social services functions for people under the age of 18. Providers do not have to allow entry to parts of a care home which are not communal areas or allow entry to premise if their work on the premises relates to children’s social services.
Who may undertake an Enter and View?
Only authorised representatives may undertake Enter and View visits to services.
To become authorised representatives, Healthwatch East Sussex’s staff, volunteers and board members must complete Enter and View training and have an up-to-date DBS check.
Our authorised representatives are listed on our website here.
During Enter and View visits they will be able to provide identification and their status as an authorised representative on request.
Where can Enter and View take place?
The legislation places a duty on health and social care providers to allow Authorised Representatives of Healthwatch to carry out an Enter and View visit on premises where health and social care is publicly funded and delivered.
This includes:
- NHS Trusts
- NHS Foundation Trusts
- Local authorities
- Primary medical services, such as GPs
- Primary dental services, such as dentists
- Primary ophthalmic services, such as opticians
- Pharmaceutical services, such as community pharmacists
- Premises which are contracted by local authorities or the NHS to provide health or care services, such as adult social care homes and day-care centres
The list of service providers who have a duty to allow entry is set out in section 225 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and supplemented by Reg 14 of the 2013 regulations.
Enter and View is the opportunity for authorised representatives to:
- go into health and social care premises to hear and see how the consumer experiences the service
- collect the views of service users (patients and residents) at the point of service delivery
- collect the views of carers and relatives of service users
- observe the nature and quality of services – an observation involving all the senses
- collate evidence-based feedback
- report to providers, Care Quality Commission (CQC), Local Authority and NHS commissioners and quality assurers, Healthwatch England and any other relevant partners.
- develop insights and recommendations across multiple visits to inform strategic decision making at local and national levels.
What happens on an Enter and View visit?
Our Enter and View visits can be announced or unannounced; it will depend on why we are carrying out the visit.
If it is announced, a member of the Healthwatch team will contact the provider in advance and let them know about the intended visit.
A small team of Healthwatch volunteers will visit to observe the service. They will all have received training and will have had a DBS check.
They will ask staff, service users, and family members (if present), some questions in a friendly and informal style about their experiences of the service. Some questions may relate to experiences of health and social care services more generally.
After an Enter and View visit, a short report will be written up and shared with the provider of the service. Recommendations may be made in order to help make services better for the people who use them. The report may also be shared with relevant commissioners and be put up on this website.
Interested to find out more?
If you have any questions or would like further information about Enter and View visits, as a provider of services or as a service user, please contact enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk
Alternatively, if you are interested in becoming an Authorised Representative, please see our Volunteering page