Boston West Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

The service ensured patients’ care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on the best available evidence.

The service enabled patients to have the best outcomes because their needs were assessed promptly and effectively. We saw that outpatients’ care and treatment reflected these needs and that staff provided evidenced based treatment. Staff monitored patients’ outcomes and worked together to encourage patients in their ongoing recovery.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

We have not awarded this service a score for Effective.

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

The evidence showed a good standard. The service made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Patients attended a pre-operative outpatient appointment to assess their overall health and communication needs prior to surgical procedures. The outpatient team continued to check on patients' wellbeing during and after procedures. Any changes were documented on their records.

We reviewed 3 patient records which showed patients were assessed using various tools, including the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST) to assess nutritional needs and STOPP (the Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions tool) to note patients’ own medication.

Patients received follow up phone calls 24 hours after their procedures and were offered further outpatient appointments or referrals to other services, depending on their needs.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

We reviewed patient feedback and found it to be positive. Patients told us they were given booklets before procedures which explained their treatment and how it was most appropriate for their needs. They said outpatient staff helped them prepare for their procedure and their post-operative appointments supported their recovery.

Please refer to the surgery report for more details about this quality statement.

The service worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

Please refer to the surgery report for more details about this quality statement.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduced their future needs for care and support.

Outpatient staff explained they helped patients understand about their underlying issues and encouraged patients to take up more exercise and eat well, which could help improve their surgical experience and outcome.

Staff explained to patients how their rehabilitation could help the recovery process. One staff member said: “Sometimes I find my work can mean more talk than activity when working with patients in their rehabilitation.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

Patients told us that someone from the service called them after their treatment to check on their comfort and progress and that staff checked their recovery at follow up outpatient appointments.

Physiotherapy staff told us they reviewed patients' records on their initial presentation before treatment. They also asked patients to assess their initial perception of their current abilities prior to surgery. The physiotherapists and patients compared this to their patient outcome forms at the end of their treatment. They said patients were often amazed at the progress they had made.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Please refer to the surgery report for more details about this quality statement.