New equipment and facilities at A&E to improve patient experience

Emergency Departments at the John Radcliffe and Horton General hospitals have both been updated with new facilities to improve people's experiences when they are in hospital.

The improvements at the Horton General Hospital include new 'wayfinding’' signs to explain what to expect when in OUH Emergency Departments, additional call buzzers for patients to alert staff if needed, improved WiFi, improved vending machines, and new coffee machines.

The project team is currently working with colleagues at the Horton General Hospital to work on further improvements there.

The John Radcliffe Hospital also has these improvements, as well as new phone charger units, improved lighting and redecoration, new seating in waiting areas, and hot food delivery via catering services based at the hospital.

The improvements were based on patient, visitor, and staff feedback.

Guisilla Dedino, Emergency Department Service Manager at OUH, said: "We know that being in an Emergency Department can be a worrying or stressful time.

"Our teams spoke to patients and their relatives when they visited our Emergency Departments, and one thing we discovered was that it was often relatively small things that could make a difference - like improved availability of hot food and drinks, or even just a place to charge your phone. We hope that this suite of improvements will go some way to improve people's experiences in our Emergency Departments."

Sara Randall, Chief Operating Officer at OUH, said: "We are constantly surveying people's experiences in our Emergency Departments, and these improvements are an example of listening to people's views and turning them into meaningful changes.

"While tackling issues such as waiting times is part of an overall, longer-term strategy, improvements like these mean that people are more comfortable, are in better surroundings, and can potentially have an overall improved experience during their time with us."

The improvements were funded by OUH, with colleagues at Oxford Hospitals Charity kindly funding the new seating.

People are welcome to share their experiences in our Emergency Departments with our Patient Experience team - any feedback shared is used to shape future changes and strategies:

Patient feedback - Oxford University Hospitals

Pictured: a touch-screen self-service coffee machine in the JR ED, with a card reader