Nuffield Health North Staffordshire Hospital

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

The service worked with patients to understand and manage risks. Care met patients' needs in a way which was safe and supportive and enabled them to do the things that mattered to them.

When people communicated their needs, emotions or distress, staff could manage this in a positive way which protects their rights and dignity and maximised learning for the future about the causes of their distress.

We looked for evidence that patient were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We assessed the levels of patient’s privacy and dignity afforded to patients. We asked patients to tell us about their experiences, if they were respected, if 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 patient’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 been rated outstanding. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect and were involved as partners in their care.

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.

The service always treated patient with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs.

Staff introduced themselves to patients and said what their role was. Staff were discreet and responsive when caring for patients. They took time to interact with patients in a respectful and considerate way, building positive rapports. A patient who had disclosed that they were claustrophobic said staff maintained communication with them during their scan to provide reassurance. Patients wearing hospital gowns were given a more private part of the waiting area to wait in to maintain their privacy and dignity, and staff did not unduly expose them during examinations. Staff followed policy to keep patient care and treatment confidential.

We saw thank you cards from patients and student radiographers expressing kindness shown by the team. A card from a patient read, “I cannot thank you enough for your help and true kindness in an emergency, you always go above and beyond”. A student radiographer wrote, “thank you so much for your kindness during placement…I am so grateful to the whole team for welcoming me”.

We viewed patient surveys for the 12 months before the inspection. Satisfaction scores in the Friends and Family test were consistently high, with the latest data from May 2026 showing that 86% of patients scored 9 or 10 out of 10 for satisfaction, although this encompassed their whole experience, rather than just experience in the radiology department.

The service treated patient as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure patient’s care, support and treatment met patient’s needs and preferences. The service took account of patient’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff fully understood and respected the personal, cultural, social, and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs.

Staff spoke about the regular oncology patients they received, and how they were proud to be able to attend to their personal needs and wishes, such as the best way to achieve intravenous access, and preferences around scan time to allow them to see their consultant shortly after and minimise their anxiety. The radiology manager who was the service’s breast lead ran a support group for patients with breast cancer.

There was a dementia champion in the service. We heard about a patient living with dementia who was allowed to attend the treatment room for their interventional procedure an hour early to have a drink and familiarise themselves with the setting before the procedure took place, so they were calm and relaxed.

A private room in the hospital was allocated daily which could be used for prayer if needed.

The service promoted patient’s independence, so patient knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Patients had choice and flexibility when choosing their appointment times. Staff explained examinations to patients so they knew what to expect and could make informed choices. Patients in MRI had access to an emergency buzzer they could press any time during the scan to summon help, and staff could stop scanning immediately if the patient requested this. All patients could choose to have a chaperone with them for their procedure.

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

Patients could summon staff throughout examinations if they required assistance and we observed staff speaking to patients in a way to minimise any anxiety or distress. There were emergency call bells in clinical areas and changing rooms which would call the emergency response team. We saw a flowchart for treatment of the deteriorating patient on the wall in the CT/MRI control room, to act as a prompt for staff in emergency situations, as well as standard operating procedures in place to support emergency response, including safe evacuation of patients from the MRI environment. Managers had initiated a quality improvement project as there was no suitable MRI compatible equipment available to safely evacuate a patient who had collapsed or fallen to the floor within the MRI scanner room. An MRI safe evacuation mattress was procured as a result.

Staff undertook a simulated anaphylaxis emergency exercise in April 2026, although this mainly involved members of staff from the emergency response team.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff spoke very positively about working in the service, speaking highly of both their management and colleagues. One staff member attributed their experience working in the team in a clerical role to their decision to train as a radiographer and return to work at the service in this role. They cited having the time to provide patient centred care as a motivating factor. Staff in MRI and CT had transferred to being managed by the service in January 2026, having previously worked for another provider who held the contract for these services. Staff said the transition process was smooth on the side of the service, and they were given the flexibility to select their working days to accommodate their personal circumstances. Managers supported staff who had experienced sickness absence to adjust their roles to allow them to safely work, as an alternative to disciplinary proceedings.

Staff were able to provide feedback and suggest ways to improve the service or staff experiences. We viewed a ‘You said, we did’ based on comments from the December 2025 staff survey and saw that action had been taken to address the comments. For example, many team members felt ready to take on additional responsibilities, and so all team members were allocated a specialist area within the department. Another staff member stated that they did not always understand the mission of the hospital, and so managers suggested collecting patient good news stories to demonstrate outcomes. Thank you cards and feedback were shared each Friday with the team.

Managers carried out annual health surveillance on staff related to skin health due to repeated handwashing and sanitising. Staff were referred to occupational health for support if there were any concerns. Staff had access to a range of wellbeing support including a digital GP, annual health checks and we saw that the radiology manager promoted 2 yearly free mammograms for female staff over the age 40 as part of breast cancer awareness month. Staff could access free and discounted legal services, as well as an employee assistance service who could provide 24/7 counselling and advice services. Staff were also entitled to gym access and discounts on fitness products. There was a wellbeing champion in the service, as well as trained mental health first aiders in the hospital.