Independent body finds Corby’s Urgent Care Centre ‘very good’

An independent body for health and social care has found that Corby’s Urgent Care Centre (CUCC) is ‘very good’.

Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire (HWNW) have teamed up with volunteers from Healthwatch Rutland to listen to people’s experiences of using the centre.

They visited the centre over two days - February 11 and February 17, 2023.

The visits were at the request of CUCC as part of their commitment to engage with, and get feedback from, members of the public as part of their programme of continuous improvement.

They engaged with 38 people in total, 24 people in person and 14 people through an online survey in Rutland and Northamptonshire.

The majority of people they spoke to during the visits and who responded to the online survey were ‘walk-in’ patients rather than having a pre-booked appointment.

Overall, they found that patients were very satisfied with the service received, with 79 per cent of people from the survey rating their overall experience at the centre as very good.

They were impressed with the staff, facilities and systems in place but did have some recommendations they’d like to see, some of which included:

- ‘There is good disabled access. However, the chairs are joined together so you cannot move the seats around to sit next to a person in a wheelchair.’

- ‘The women’s toilet did not have a cleaning schedule in it. We suggest that one is put up.’

- ‘There are male and female toilets at the main entrance but they are not well signed and some new signs would make it clear that the toilets are there.’

- Communications with patients could be improved to keep them better informed whilst waiting

- Staff need to be reminded that using terms of endearment to patients and visitors may cause offence and should not be used

Corby Urgent Care Centre have already addressed some of these issues.

They said:

“The waiting area is currently under review, and we are exploring all possibilities for improving the seats and seating arrangement.”

“We have placed clearer toilet signage around the building and have implemented cleaner’s checklists within the toilets. We are further reviewing all signage around the department, to help everyone find their way around.”

“Improving communication is a top priority for us. For example, we are currently coproducing a document to provide every patient explaining our triage process. We are using our social media account to share live service updates, particularly when the waiting time is long due to high attendance. We are in the process of organising screens in the waiting rooms that will provide live waiting times, as well as information about how many are in the department.”

“We have taken this on board and have reminded all staff members through our internal huddles and meetings to refrain from using terms of endearment.”

Patients were also quoted in the report. One said: “I always come to Corby rather than my GP if it was possible. Getting an appointment with my GP was so difficult. Staff at Corby were always helpful”.

The full report is available to view online, in which you can see the full findings as well as the questionnaire, and some of the other comments patients have made.