Healthcare pre-visit familiarisation
Healthcare settings can be difficult to understand before arrival. Patients, carers and family members may need to know where to enter, where to wait, where toilets are, what reception looks like, and how to move through the building before they feel confident attending.
Pre-visit familiarisation gives people a practical way to explore a healthcare environment before an appointment or visit. It can support accessible information, appointment preparation, reasonable adjustments and a more confident patient experience.
What healthcare pre-visit familiarisation means Back to top
Healthcare pre-visit familiarisation means helping patients and visitors understand a healthcare setting before they arrive in person.
This can include a GP surgery, hospital department, clinic, treatment room, reception area, waiting room, car park, entrance route, toilet, lift, corridor or other space that may affect confidence before an appointment.
Why healthcare visits can create uncertainty Back to top
Healthcare visits can already involve worry, discomfort or pressure. Unfamiliar buildings can add further uncertainty, especially where a patient does not know what to expect.
This may affect autistic people, people with anxiety, people living with dementia, people with PTSD, disabled patients, carers, family members, children, older people and anyone attending an unfamiliar healthcare location.
Clear pre-visit information does not replace clinical care, staff support, physical accessibility or reasonable adjustments. It can, however, make practical information easier to understand before arrival.
How virtual familiarisation can help Back to top
A well-planned virtual familiarisation tour can help patients and visitors explore a healthcare environment before attending.
It can help people:
- identify the entrance, reception and waiting areas
- understand the route through the building
- find toilets, lifts, stairs, parking and key facilities
- prepare for an appointment with a carer, family member or support worker
- feel more informed before entering an unfamiliar clinical environment
For healthcare providers, virtual familiarisation can also support patient communications, access information, inclusion work, staff explanations and evidence of practical steps taken to make services easier to understand.
Where it can be used Back to top
Healthcare pre-visit familiarisation can be used across:
- GP surgeries and primary care settings
- hospital departments and outpatient clinics
- mental health and community health settings
- dental practices and treatment rooms
- care, rehabilitation and therapy environments
- staff training, induction and patient support information
Evidence and context Back to top
NHS England’s Accessible Information Standard requires NHS and publicly funded adult social care services to identify, record, flag, share, meet and review the information and communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss. Its stated aim is to help people access and understand information about services and receive the communication support they need to use them.
The Accessible Information Standard does not specifically recommend virtual tours. It is relevant because it supports the wider need for healthcare information to be accessible, understandable and usable.
Morrab Surgery in Penzance provides a practical Ocean 3D healthcare example. The published virtual tour allows patients and visitors to inspect the surgery environment before attending, including the entrance, reception, waiting areas and routes through the practice.
The Morrab Surgery tour uses AVA/AVT patented accessibility technology designed to support WCAG-oriented controls. Where this layer is deployed and tested, features may include simplified navigation, screen-reader support, labels, contrast controls and custom interactions. Accessibility claims should always be made within the tested scope and date.
Ocean 3D’s evidence base also includes legal opinion from Louise Mankau of Doughty Street Chambers. Her 4 June 2021 opinion supports the proposition that, in suitable circumstances, a virtual familiarisation tour may form part of an auxiliary aid or reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010. It is professional legal opinion, not binding law or regulator approval.
Ocean 3D does not claim that healthcare virtual tours guarantee reduced anxiety, reduce missed appointments in every setting, or amount to NHS approval. The careful claim is that virtual familiarisation can improve practical pre-visit information and may help reduce avoidable uncertainty before arrival.
Sources:
NHS England, Accessible Information Standard requirements
Morrab Surgery, Take a virtual tour
Ocean 3D Morrab Surgery virtual tour case page
Accessible virtual-tour system and method patent record
Ocean 3D research and evidence behind virtual familiarisation
Related topics Back to top
Virtual tours as auxiliary aids
Reducing uncertainty before arrival
SEND transition familiarisation
Talk to us
If you are responsible for a GP surgery, clinic, hospital department, care setting or patient experience project, Ocean 3D can help you consider whether virtual familiarisation would be useful, proportionate and appropriate for your setting.