The Beaumont 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 rated caring as good.

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Staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs and choices. Staff were alert and responsive to people's needs and provided emotional support to people who use the service to avoid any preventable discomfort, concern or distress. The service had systems in place to support staff with their wellbeing, safe working and emotional support. However, not all staff spoke positively about the support they had received from managers. Some staff described behaviours from managers that were not always in line with the hospitals values and principles.

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This service scored 70 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People who use the service told us staff treated them well and with kindness. They told us staff were friendly and caring and gave us positive feedback about ways in which staff showed them respect and ensured that their dignity was maintained.

Staff we spoke with were focused on the patients experience and were caring and compassionate. They told us they cared for people and respected their privacy and dignity. They told us people’s needs and preferences were assessed prior to admission in the pre-operative assessment.

Partners we spoke with told us that staff were caring and that patients were always treated with respect and kindness by all of the team.

We saw staff were discreet and responsive when caring for people who used the service. Staff took time to interact with people and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way. We saw people were treated with dignity, compassion and empathy.

We observed staff speaking with people discreetly to maintain confidentiality. Privacy curtains were available around beds and we saw these used to protect people’s privacy and dignity.

Patient feedback collected between September and November 2024 showed that almost all patients said they were given enough privacy when discussing their condition or treatment and were treated with respect and dignity.

Staff made sure patients living with learning disabilities and dementia received the necessary care to meet all their needs. Staff provided information that was dementia friendly and used hospital passports that supported patients with communication needs, anxieties and other aspects of their care.

Staff asked patients if they had any communication needs in line with the accessible information standard. There were posters available that signposted patients to ask for help if they needed information in large text, sign language, easy read text or braille. Staff had access to communication aids, translation services and hearing loops were available. The department had access to religious and cultural resources that staff, or patients could use. For example, the service had a multi faith room with resources that contained different religious materials.

Staff were able to describe how they would make reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities and autism, such as allowing extended appointment times and using sensory or communication aids.

We observed positive interactions between staff and people who use the service. Staff spoke with people in a way they could understand and had a good understanding of their individual needs and preferences.

People's personal, cultural, social and religious needs were understood and met. People's care records that we looked at showed their individual needs and preferences were assessed at the pre-operative assessment. Individual risk assessments and care plans were in place to meet their needs.

All eligible staff had completed equality, diversity and human rights training. Staff also completed dementia awareness and autism awareness training as part of their mandatory training.

People who use the service were provided with information on what to expect before treatment and how to prepare for their procedure and admission to hospital. Information included what would happen after the procedure, preparing to go home and advice on how to look after their surgical wound. People were also given information in discharge booklets to help guide and support their recovery at home following surgery.

People’s needs and preferences were assessed as part of their pre-operative assessment. Staff supported patients to make informed decisions about their care and told us they listened to people and promoted independence as much as possible.

The views of people who use the service were listened to and taken into account through participation groups or surveys. Staff supported them to do this by asking for feedback before discharge and during follow up phone calls. The service asked people if they felt informed, involved and supported by staff. We looked at feedback data from 1 September 2024 to 30 November 2024 for 347 people. The response rate was low (32%) and managers were focused on increasing this to improve the quality of results. The data showed that nearly 100% of respondents felt involved in decision making and felt adequately prepared for their treatment or procedure.

The service had implemented a handover quality improvement programme (QIP) which focused on patients being more involved in the handover process and having more choice and control over their goals for the day.

People who use the service told us staff carried out regular observations during their treatment and provided timely pain relief. They told us staff were calm and reassuring and answered any questions they had about their treatment. They told us that any concerns or anxieties were listened to and supported by staff.

Staff told us people's risk assessments and care plans were regularly reviewed and updated. They told us any identified risks were escalated for medical review.

Staff understood the emotional and social impact that a person's care, treatment or condition had on their wellbeing and on those close to them.

People told us they were closely monitored by staff before allowing them to leave the hospital to ensure they were suitable to be discharged.

We observed staff regularly engage with and monitor people during and after their surgery. We observed staff providing reassurance to people and supporting them whilst providing care and treatment. People who were inpatients and day case patients appeared calm and relaxed.

The service had hospital wide initiatives to support staff and promote their well-being. This included afternoon tea or breakfast with the executive director to give feedback on what was going well and areas of concern. Staff could take part in ‘wellbeing Wednesdays’ that involved team building activities. Managers shared staff achievements, promoted cultural celebrations and employee of the month nominations.

Most staff spoke positively about the wider support they received from the provider. They told us they could access occupational health, counselling services and other tools to support their wellbeing.

Most staff told us there was a friendly, warm and supportive culture that was based on providing high quality care. However, not all staff spoke positively about the support they had received from managers. Some staff described behaviours from managers that were not always in line with the hospitals values and principles.

Managers used a new absence management system and followed the providers sickness and absence management policy. They conducted reviews of sickness absence and said they offered a supportive environment for staff members. However, some staff we spoke with told us that they were worried about the consequences of sickness levels and did not feel supported. Some staff said they felt pressured to come into work when they were sick.

The service had initiatives to support staff workloads, including flexible shift adjustments and utilising bank staff. However, not all staff felt that their workload was manageable and this had impacted on their wellbeing at work.

Staff could access the provider’s employee support programme for health and wellbeing. This provided staff with access to human resources, counselling, GP support as well as online services that included mental wellbeing.

The service provided the most recent leavers questionnaire with data from February 2023 to October 2024. The most common reasons were ‘management behaviours and lack of support’ ‘culture’ and ‘workload’.

Turnover rates were showing signs of improvement. Ward staff turnover had reduced from 21% in March 2024 to 14% in September 2024. Theatre staff turnover had also reduced from 19% to 15% for the same time period.

Non-clinical staff had a higher turnover than clinical staff with a rate of 21.5% in September 2024. Although this had reduced from 28% in the previous 6 months.