Archived: King Edward VII's Hospital

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

We looked for evidence that people were always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We checked that people’s privacy and dignity was respected, that they understood that they and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence that every effort was made to take people’s wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. We found that people were treated with kindness, compassion and respect, and their dignity was consistently upheld.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues with kindness and respect.

Patients provided positive feedback, highlighting clear communication, compassionate staff, and effective pain management. Following patient feedback, a Patient Guide was introduced, reducing the number of single documents sent to patients. All patients received one booklet by email before admission as a result. A patient forum was set up to review and feedback on the final sign off the design.

Feedback from patients resulted in a staff led project to review and improve the hospital menus. Working with the patient participation forum, staff developed a single, unified menu to make options clearer and more accessible for patients.

Visitors were welcomed to stay with patients to help them feel comfortable. There were beds available if they wanted to stay overnight.

Staff members received recognition for long-term service, with awards for those with 5 to 30 years of service. There were many staff working in the service with 10 to 15 years’ service.

Managers held regular meetings with staff to understand their personal and professional challenges, fostering empathy and support.

Staff treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Patients living with dementia or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were prioritised at the beginning of operation lists, taking their needs into consideration.

Leaders had a planned Dementia Awareness week in May 2025. Staff were committed to raising awareness of the diagnosis.

Staff promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff understood how to manage patient mental wellbeing. Staff gave examples of managing patients with acute delirium, involving carers and family, assessing capacity, and understood the need to implement Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) if necessary.

Staff were person-centred in their approach to care and treatment. Staff shared in advance with patients what to expect throughout their treatment. Staff shared goals for the day, such as blood tests and X-rays, which were listed. The nurses wrote the plan for the day, so patients knew their schedule to share with their carers. Visitors were welcomed at any time and treated with kindness and compassion.

Staff listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Nurses were encouraged by leaders to be critical thinkers, assessing risks and using clinical judgement dynamically. Clinical staff were supported to look beyond what was written down and ensure they considered the dynamic changes and adapted the support needed to minimise discomfort.

A patient shared their journey from the pre-operative assessment onwards, which they described as “exceptional”, praising the rooms, food, staff, and aftercare. They “could not fault” any aspect of care.

A post-operative patient who was expecting surgery as a day patient told us that they had a good pre-operative experience. They told us that they had received effective pain and anti-sickness management and praised the compassionate staff and comfortable surroundings. They shared that they had excellent adaptations to their pain management and good venous thromboembolism (VTE) and pressure ulcer (PU) support.

Leaders cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

While staff were supported, some staff reported feeling anxious following recent leadership changes. To help address this, leaders held listening events to involve staff in learning and improvement efforts, ensuring their voices were heard and helping them better understand the organisational changes.

Mental health first aiders and champions were introduced to support staff wellbeing.

New staff felt welcomed by the team and were confident in the organisation's direction.