HW 100: Trafford General Hospital

About this report

Healthwatch Trafford carried out a survey in into the perceptions of people in Trafford about Trafford General Hospital(TGH) following misconceptions about it and fears for its future. This report contains our findings based solely on the results of the Healthwatch 100 survey undertaken in May and June of 2019.

Recommendations

• Publicise what the hospital does and does not offer, and where the best place to go for problems might be. Particular audiences to aim for include parents of school age children and minority groups.
• Look at new ways of educating people on what an Urgent Care Centre is, and reasons why it may or may not be suitable for various illnesses or emergencies.
• Look at opportunities to educate patients and relatives/carers in relation to what services exist at TGH. An improvement in the signage and a review of displayed information at Trafford General Hospital, to help people find their way around but also to maximise the impact of the information displayed in waiting rooms, reception areas, corridors and clinical rooms.
• Look at opportunities to educate users of the hospital and the general public about future developments at TGH and good news stories.
• Create easily accessible public facing information so that people can be made aware of where they will need to go in the event of them needing services not provided at TGH. This must include opening times for these services.
• Look at ways of promoting the hospital’s investments and developments as well as its achievements to help allay concerns that the hospital is ‘winding down’ or on the way to being closed down.