What is Enter and View?
HWK works to ensure local people’s voices count when it comes to shaping and improving local health and social care services across the Royal Borough of Kingston.
The legislative framework for Healthwatch is divided between what Healthwatch must do (duties) and what they may do (powers). Healthwatch have a power under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and Part 4 of the Local Authorities Regulations 2013 to carry out Enter and View visits.
Healthwatch should consider how Enter and View activity links to the statutory functions in section 225 of Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.
The purpose of an Enter and View visit is to collect evidence of what works well, and how the service could be improved to make people’s experiences better. Healthwatch can use this evidence to make recommendations and inform changes both for individual services as well as system wide.
Enter and View in Kingston
In the autumn of 2023, Healthwatch Kingston (HWK) entered into conversations with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) and Kingston Care Governance Board (CGB) to pilot an announced Enter and View at a local care home.
It was later agreed that this Enter and View would function as a pre-pilot for a series of announced HWK Enter and View visits to local care and nursing homes between April 2024 and March 2025 to support a wider understanding of care provision and the wellbeing of residents using these services in the borough. The work would support the ‘Age Well’ focus in the ‘Kingston Refreshed Health and Care Plan 2022-2024’ and ‘Age Friendly’ ambitions set out in the ‘RBK Director of Public Health’s Annual Report 2023: Ageing Well in Kingston’ and ‘A Decade On: Report on progress since 2013, the previous Kingston DPH Report focussing on older residents living in the borough: ‘Older People: Living Well in Later Life’). It also aims to better understand the needs of residents from all the diverse communities in RBK.
Funding has been continued for the year 2025/26 to include visits to supported living provisions across the borough.
The remit of the KCGB is to report on and manage quality and risk across the whole care market in Kingston. This board reports on any issues and concerns, manages risks in the marketplace, and supports good practice in quality and delivery. KCGB members include RBK Adult Social Care and the Quality Assurance Team, Care Quality Commission (CQC) and HWK.
As KCGB already has oversight regarding risk management, safeguarding, performance monitoring, and quality management, the HWK Board made the decision to focus the enter and view visits on the following three areas.
- living environment.
- mealtime experiences; and
- meaningful activities within the care setting.
The visits give residents the opportunity to share their lived experience of being in a care provision, and for the HWK visiting team to observe mealtimes and activities, as well as speak to staff members, and relatives of the residents, about their impressions and experiences. Healthwatch Kingston also provides independent insight.
Enter and view visits follow Healthwatch England Enter and View Guidance and our visiting teams use an observations and question framework that supports engagement with residents, visitors, and the care workforce.
Our Enter and View Reports
- Healthwatch Kingston Enter & View Report: Rosclare Residential Home
- Healthwatch Kingston Enter & View Report - Amy Woodgate House Care Home
- Enter & View Report - Langley Court Rest Home
- Enter & View Report - Brook House Nursing Home
- Enter & View Report - Cloyda Care Home
- Enter & View Report - Sherwood Grange Care Home | Healthwatch Kingston
- Enter & View Report - Milverton Nursing Home
Our Enter and View team are:
Jill Prawer: Engagement Officer, Enter and View (staff member)
Julie Pilot: Authorised Representative (volunteer)
Liz Meerabeau: Authorised Representative (volunteer)
Tony Williams: Authorised Representative (volunteer)
Graham Goldspring: Authorised Representative (volunteer)
Richard Allen: Authorised Representative (volunteer)
Our staff members are all trained authorised representatives.
Our Key Work Areas
Have your say on our top five work areas for 2024/25. We need your views, or alternatively, let us know about your recent experience of health and social care services.
No matter how big or small the issue, we want to hear about it.
Find out more about our key work areas
