Our visit to Ormskirk District General Hospital
Healthwatch Lancashire participated in an engagement event at Ormskirk District General Hospital on Monday 8th April 2024 from 9:00am-12:00pm. The representative spoke to patients as well as hospital volunteers about different health and social care services including the hospital.
Patients that wanted to talk about the care they had received at the hospital were asked :
- How did you find your appointment today?
- Is there anything positive you’d like to share about your experience today?
- Are there any improvements that can be made to make the process any better?
Our Senior Engagement Officer, Emmy, spoke to 20 patients on the day who shared their views and experiences on the hospital as well as other health and social care services in Lancashire.
During the visit the staff were very accommodating including the porters and the volunteers at the front of the hospital.
An overview of the visit showed that patients were very happy with the care they were receiving at the hospital via different departments. Two main themes that came from the visit was around parking facilities and the confusion around where to park, as well as suggestions given about having seating available on the corridors for patients to rest when walking a long way to appointments.
Below are the answers that we received during the visit to Ormskirk District General Hospital. For the purpose of this report, only comments regarding the hospital are included.
“I have regular bloods at the hospital to check my kidneys and I think they are great. They always text or ring me when I need anything, and I am always kept up to date. I find this very helpful as sometimes you can get behind with appointments, so the reminders really help.”
“I have been to the maternity clinic today to have a check-up with my midwife and it went really well. I went in on time and I was happy with what the midwife told me, and she explained everything to me.”
“I had my appointment sent to me via the post today and I prefer that, I have been told that they will eventually go digital but that’s excluding so many people who don’t use the internet and don’t have access to technology. My care today has been great, I can never complain about Ormskirk hospital they are very good.”
“Parking at this hospital is confusing, as you come in to the car park on the left there are very faded disabled parking bays but no sign, so I don’t know if you can park there or not and cars park there that aren’t in the bays, I think there’s a lot of confusion there around where the disabled bays are and where others can park.”
“I have parked in car park A but my appointment is at the other end of the hospital, you can’t park on the other one its always full. I use a walking stick and have to lean on the walls on my walk to the appointment. I think it would benefit from some seating scattered around the corridors so that patients can have a rest whilst getting to their appointment.”
“I use the diabetic clinic a lot and they are very good. they are always on time and the staff are lovely. The car park wasn’t too bad today either but I’m presuming that’s because its half term.”
“I have to rely on transport to hospital this is sometimes an ambulance and sometimes a car. When it’s a car they can’t fit my walking aid in so when I get here i have to walk from one side of the building to the other with a walking stick and it does take me a long time. I think some seating in the corridors would be great so we can rest on our way round, it’s a long way to walk all in one.”
“I used the blood clinic today; I was sent after an appointment but when I got to the blood clinic I wasn’t sure what to do or where to wait. I ended up walking back down the corridor to ask them what I needed to do. A member of staff was lovely and walked me to the blood clinic and showed me what to do and where to sit.”
“I have just been sat behind a queue of cars getting into the hospital. What is going on with the bays on the left as you enter the car park, they are faded yellow, you can hardly see the bays as they are so faded and no one knows if they can park there or not as there are no signs. People keep stopping and starting as they aren’t sure where they can and can’t park.”
“Very good from start to end, I got here ok and managed to park. The receptionists were very polite, and the physio was great, he told me about next steps and where we are going to go from here. (Joint health)”
“we’ve been going to Southport hospital for pain management, and I do prefer Ormskirk, it’s easier to park, the hospital is nicer, the staff are nicer. In Southport you have to park miles away and walk where here isn’t too far to get to. We used the pain clinic today and we were in and out, on time and no problems at all.”
“I had a CT scan today, I got here early, and I got in early which was nice. The care was great today.”
“Its very good here, we come regularly with my wife and the care is excellent.”
“In and out of the pain clinic today, very happy with the care, that’s how hospitals should be in and out and done so you can get on with your day.”
We would like to thank the staff and volunteers that helped us on the day of the visit and for their continued support in Healthwatch. We are keen to continue working together moving forward and look forward to establishing the views of the community.