We gather information on people experiences of health and social care services and there are times when it is appropriate for Healthwatch Shropshire to see and hear for ourselves how services are provided: these visits are called Enter & View. Following careful planning teams of specially trained volunteers visit a service, make observations, collect people’s opinions and produce a report.
Enter & View is not an inspection; we do not look at care plans, medicines management, etc. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) look at the clinical aspects of a service. Enter & View gives a voice to the people using a service and asks them what they think of the service they receive. We look at whether a service works for the people using it.
Enter and View visits can be announced or unannounced; it will depend on why we are there. The responsibility to carry out Enter & View was given to local Healthwatch in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 our full policy can be found here.
Who can Enter and View?
Authorised Representatives are ordinary people, often without previous experience in health or social care. However, they are all interested in giving people a say in the services they receive. Our Authorised Representatives receive full training to equip them with the skills needed to carry out Enter & View visits:
- Enter and View Training
- Safeguarding Training
- DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) Check
- Equality and Diversity Training (not compulsory but completed by all representatives)
Role Description
If you are interested in becoming an Authorised Representative further details can be found here.