Freedom from Torture Also known as Freedom from Torture

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. They respected patients’ privacy and dignity. They understood the individual needs of patients and supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. Staff involved patients in care planning and risk assessment and actively sought their feedback on the quality of care provided. Staff informed and involved families and carers appropriately.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The provider demonstrated a deeply embedded culture of kindness, empathy and compassion. Staff consistently treated people with dignity and respect, protecting their privacy and ensuring all interactions were person-centred, warm and meaningful. The staff and management team spoke respectfully about the people they cared for. Staff talked of valuing people and respecting their human rights and diverse needs.

Patients told us that staff treated them with kindness, dignity and respect.

Staff supported patients to understand and manage their care, treatment and health conditions, ensuring they were involved in decisions about their care. Where appropriate, patients were signposted or referred to other services, promoting a holistic approach to care. Staff provided support to help them access those services when required, for example the welfare team supported patients to access housing, GP services, welfare benefits and education classes.

Patients received high quality care and support from a staff team that worked within a strong person-centred culture. Staff understood and respected the individual needs of each patient. They also understood the unique story of each person and the types of torture they had survived.

Staff attitudes and behaviours when interacting with patients showed that they were discreet, respectful and responsive, providing patients with help, emotional support and advice at the time they needed it.

Patients said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately towards them. Patients told us they were listened to.

Staff understood the individual needs of patients, including their personal, cultural, social and religious needs.

Staff said they could raise concerns about disrespectful, discriminatory or abusive behaviour or attitudes towards patients without fear of the consequences.

Staff maintained the confidentiality of information about patients. Staff followed policy to keep patient information confidential. The service had clear confidentiality policies in place that were understood and adhered to by staff.

We spoke with a professional from another service that worked closely with the provider. They spoke positively about the service, describing a hardworking, compassionate and responsive team. They told us they were valued and included when working alongside the team.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff said they felt respected, supported and valued.

Staff said they felt positive and proud about working for the provider and their team.

Staff had access to support for their own physical and emotional health needs through an occupational health and employee assistance programme. The service had a well-being advisor and a comprehensive staff well-being strategy in place. Staff had access to a wide range of wellbeing initiatives, including occupational health and a wellbeing platform.

Managers and senior staff were visible and approachable, supporting teamwork and shared responsibility for patient outcomes.

Staff reported that the organisational restructure, together with ongoing pressures on resources and funding, had negatively affected staff morale and service delivery. Demand for the service exceeded its current capacity, limiting what staff were able to provide. At the time of our inspection referrals to the service had been paused. Staff told us that communication from senior leadership was limited and that they did not always feel sufficiently involved in decisions regarding the future direction of the service.