Under the Healthwatch regulations, local Healthwatch organisations have the power to ‘Enter and View’ providers so that our Enter and View Ambassadors can observe how services are being delivered. The purpose of the visits are to identify good practice that can be celebrated and shared with others, and to identify any issues raised by service users.

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 and whether it is working for them.

Organisations must allow an Ambassador from Healthwatch to ‘Enter and View’ and look at how services are being provided, as long as this does not affect the care being delivered or the privacy and dignity of people using services.

Providers do not have to allow entry to parts of a care home which are not communal areas or allow entry to premises if their work on the premises relates to children’s social services. We are also not permitted to ‘Enter and View’ local authorities’ social services for people under the age of 18.