Healthcare watchdog wants to hear about Shropshire A&E experiences amid TV hospital exposé
Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin is appealing for people to share their experiences of A&E as an exposé at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is set to reveal conditions patients face at its emergency department.
Channel 4's Dispatches sent a reporter undercover at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for two months, with the harrowing findings to feature in a programme highlighting the 'NHS in Crisis' on Monday evening.
The broadcaster said that it has filmed poor care, long waits, people in pain for long periods, lack of dignity and internal messaging warning of shortcomings.
Now, 'healthcare champions' at Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin are asking people about their experiences of care in Telford and Shrewsbury Hospitals' A&E departments.
Simon Fogell, chief executive of Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin, said: “We need people to tell us their experiences of being treated in either accident and emergency department, whether the experience was poor or negative or if people found their experience to be positive and felt well cared for.
"We are not just here to capture the not-so-good but to also highlight when things are working well.
“We really need to get to the bottom of what services are like on a day-to-day basis not just on a few occasions. We can do that with people's help in sharing their experiences.
"We will work with the hospital management to use your experiences, your truths to seek urgent improvements to services."
Healthwatch says it is hearing "so many worrying stories and accounts" about the state of care in the local hospitals, from the press, people, the Care Quality Commission and - now - Channel 4.
Now, the organisation has created a short survey for people to share their experiences, which is available online at https://online1.snapsurveys.com/AandE_Services.
