THE Patient Panel at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) have recently met with the local community to seek their views on the services and care offered by The Princess Alexandra Hospital (Harlow) and at St Margaret’s Hospital (Epping) and Herts and Essex Hospital (Bishop’s Stortford).

The award-winning Patient Panel are a group of dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to represent the voice of patients and people who use the hospital services, with the aim to improve experiences for patients in the future.

Ann Nutt, chair of the Patient Panel at PAHT, said: “On Thursday 11 July, our team gathered at a local shopping centre and instantly started to engage with shoppers passing by, who represented a diverse cross-section of people.

“We were pleased to receive a high volume of receive praise about the services we provide and people compared us to much larger and specialist hospitals across the region.

“Others commented that there are slightly longer wait times for specific services, however noted that there are plans to address these concerns.

“Most people praised and thanked our colleagues for their hard work and dedication in challenging circumstances.
“Thank you to those who took the time to share their feedback and to our colleagues who attended on the day to support.”

Sharon McNally, chief nurse and deputy chief executive at PAHT, said: “Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts – your valuable thoughts will help to shape improvements to our services.

“The Patient Panel will also share this feedback at a forward planning meeting with key leads across the NHS and wider stakeholders.

“Finally, if you are interested in being a member of our Patient Panel, please contact Ann Nutt, chair of the Patient Panel, at [email protected] for further information.”