Enter and View

Enter and view is seeing and hearing for ourselves how services are being run. Under the Health and Social Care act, we are able to visit providers of adult health or social care services, to observe how services work in action.

About Enter and View Visits

Where we visit

We are able to visit many different services that are publicly funded and delivered. These include services such as local hospitals, GPs, care homes, day centres, opticians and pharmacies.

When we visit

Enter and view visits can be announced or unannounced, and services will typically be notified in advance of a visit. Unannounced visits will only be made in exceptional circumstances.

Who visits

Enter and View visits are conducted by trained Healthwatch Derbyshire volunteers called Authorised Representatives. Our representatives are independent from staff at health and care services.

Visit outcomes

It is important to note that Enter and View visits are not inspections. Enter and View visits are about listening to experiences rather than being an in-depth formal investigation. They are a regular person’s perspective of health and social care services. Visits aim to give a voice to service users, their families and carers, members of the public and staff to have a say on how services are running and what could be improved.

What is Enter and View?

The purpose of an Enter and View visit is to collect evidence of what works well and what could be improved to make people’s experiences better.

We then use this evidence to make recommendations and inform changes both for individual services as well as system-wide.

How do enter and view visits benefit services?

It gives services the chance to receive independent unbiased feedback on what service users, patients and staff really think

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Visits let services know where there could be improvements to consider, and what is valued

It’s an opportunity to showcase and share good practice which is an important part of the feedback report

It shows the CQC (who receive our reports) and other regulators that services listen to patients about their experiences

Engaging with us helps services to gain a wider perspective. This is through life experience, common-sense and being in touch with service users and the local community

What happens after an Enter and View visit?

Following a visit, we collate feedback and produce a report with recommendations. These reports are shared via our website and with services, planners, and regulators as well as stakeholders such as Healthwatch England.
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This is a great chance for services to learn about what is valued within their organisation,and what could be improved.

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"I became a volunteer for Healthwatch some years ago after attending the launch event. It seemed to me to be the perfect organisation to seek out patient views and give a voice to them with the promise that they would be listened to.

During my time as a volunteer, I was most active as an Enter and View representative. This was very interesting and rewarding. It took me to parts of the county I would not otherwise have visited and led me to a far greater understanding of the care system and provision in Derbyshire.

The training and support given by Healthwatch to volunteers gives us the knowledge and confidence to carry out our role. I would encourage anyone with an interest in any aspect of health care to consider seeking to be a Healthwatch volunteer. It is a really worthwhile experience."

Barbra, former Enter and View Representative