Nuffield Health Leeds 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

People were treat with kindness, empathy and compassion. Privacy and dignity was respected and efforts were made to respect individual choices and achieve the best outcomes. People were supported to be independent and have choice and control over their treatment. Workforce well-being support was evident and staff felt supported in their roles by their immediate team colleagues.

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.

We spoke with three patients on the inpatient ward. All patients told us the care and treatment they received was to a very high standard. One patient told us the care had been 'second to none' and felt staff had 'gone over and above' to ensure patients received the care that they required. Patients also felt involved in the decisions regarding their care and told us both medical and nursing staff took the time to explain everything in a thorough and calm manner. None of the patients we spoke with had ever made a complaint, but they felt they had been provided with sufficient information regarding the process, should they ever need to.

Staff in a number of roles talked with compassion and pride about the care they provided to patients. It was evident that staff worked consistently to treat people with kindness, compassion and dignity in all of their day to day interactions.

Staff spoke about working across organisations with respect for other agencies and care providers.

We observed the communication exchange between the nursing staff and patients during our inspection. We saw interaction was positive and calm and staff demonstrated professionalism and respect.

All patients we spoke with told us they felt fully involved with all aspects of their care. We saw shared communication streams between staff and patients during our inspection.

Children were provided with bespoke information booklets which were age appropriate and colourfully illustrated as an easy interesting guide for children coming into hospital.

Staff we spoke to demonstrated they understood individuals needs and preferences. Some staff gave examples of understanding peoples personal, cultural, social and religious needs.

We observed staff to treat people as individuals and engage them in their care during inspection.

We heard from staff about how they would treat people as individuals. However, we did not see clear evidence of processes in place to ensure that all individual needs were captured through care planning and recording systems.

People we spoke to felt supported to have choice and control over their own care and treatment and to make decisions about their care, treatment and wellbeing.

Staff we spoke to recognised that all individuals should be able to make independent choices in their own right. Staff provided additional information about community support services to people to promote independence, choice and control over decision making about wellbeing.

We heard there were processes to ensure people were able to have ‘cool off’ periods before consenting to procedures such as breast surgery or plastic surgery. The hospital had completed a self-assessment and identified that they were not auditing this to evidence this was always happening. Leaders told us they were going to action this through setting up a breast MDT and plastics consent audits.

People we saw were observed to have their immediate needs met. We heard examples of staff taking time to recognise individuals needs to prevent discomfort.

Staff we spoke to were dedicated to responding to peoples needs, wishes and comfort. Staff gave examples of how they would respond to individuals needs to ensure dignity and privacy were maintained. Staff were proud to be able to offer the time and support to people that they needed.

We observed waiting areas to be open and spacious with people in clear view of reception desks so that staff would be alert to and able to respond to any needs arising. We saw staff had full view of all patients within the critical care unit and the wards were all equipped with personal alarms for people who required help.

Staff told us they felt valued by their colleagues within their specific work areas, for example, theatre and wards. Staff we spoke to were aware of a staff wellbeing room that could be accessed 24 hours, seven days a week. This space was used as a supportive space with resources available for support opportunities. This space could also be used as a space to meet the engagement and well-being officer.

We heard some staff were trained as mental health first aiders and colleagues valued this opportunity to receive support from the mental health first aid team.

Senior leaders recognised the need for well being of staff members. Leaders from each department and team within the hospital met each morning to identify any concerns from the previous day or known challenges that might arise during the day that had potential to impact upon the well being of staff.

The engagement and well being officer provided regular opportunities for staff to discuss support opportunities if they were struggling. Through this support staff were able to provide feedback, raise concerns and suggest ways to improve the service or staff experiences.

The service encouraged staff engagement in staff surveys that were sent out 3 times per year from the central Nuffield team. We saw these results were reviewed following completion of surveys and areas of focus identified at local level for future improvements to support staff well being.

Exit interviews were used to monitor and review themes. This information was used to inform staff well being needs.

At the time of inspection we saw that a staff well being day was planned for the following week. This was a new initiative and the service planned to continue this on an annual basis. Staff were also entitled to take two wellness days throughout the year.