The Priory 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

We looked for evidence that people and communities had the best possible outcomes because their needs were assessed. We checked that people’s care, support, and treatment reflected these needs and any protected equality characteristics, ensuring people were at the centre of their care. We also looked for evidence that leaders instilled a culture of improvement.

At our last assessment we did not rate this key question. At this assessment, the rating has changed to good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

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.

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

With the consent of 15 patients, we were able to observe clinics appointments. We saw patients were engaged and involved in their care and treatment.

Patients were given time to ask any questions if they did not understand the information given to them. Staff took time with patients when they became upset due to receiving bad news, staff treated patients with kindness and compassion when delivering bad news. However, we raised with the service when delivering bad news to a patient they need to enable and ensure patients have the time to understand the information they had received and be safe to travel home, especially if they had attended the appointment on their own.

New patients attending the services had a 30-minute slot to give sufficient time to complete relevant paperwork and, to give the staff extra time to assess the patient’s needs and decide on the next steps.

After the clinics had finished, we observed staff and consultants recording the patient’s information and details of what was discussed during the appointment, what the next steps were, and when the next appointment if required were to be booked, which showed patient’s information was no mixed up.

Staff told us they had a good understanding of supporting patients with any psychological and emotional needs, for example, we observed a patient who presented with mental health concerns, there were clear discussions during the patient’s appointment, the staff member repeated anything that had not been understood, staff gave the patient the advice required, and the time that was needed for the appointment.

The service had access to translation line, who would support patients whose first language was not English. Staff told us they could access a translator via telephone and the call could be transferred directly to the clinic room; the service also printed leaflets where required.

Staff ensured all oncology patients were provided information for access to a clinical psychologist as part of their treatment. This was a supporting service for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

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

The service employed staff with a range of skills and knowledge who could offer the staff team additional support where required, for example, in areas such as IPC, wellbeing, dementia, safeguarding and learning disabilities. This meant the staff team had access to support when needed to enable them to help patients with additional or complex needs.

We observed clinics where patients were asked the level of pain and discomfort they were experiencing. Staff gave advice on pain management, this also included exercises that would help. For example, where patients attended an appointment for pain in their knee, staff showed the patient exercises to undertake whilst waiting for their next appointment once the doctor had reviewed the patients’ scan.

Data received after the onsite assessment showed the service completed clinical audits, to ensure staff were providing care and treatment in line with the service policies and procedures.

The service worked with an organisation dedicated to providing emotional, spiritual, and pastoral care to individuals and within the local community. This chaplaincy was also available for staff to access if they required additional support.

The service has 2 mental health first aider to support staff who present with mental health concerns. Staff who have concerns with a patient’s mental health are able to escalate to our Safeguarding Leads.

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

Staff told us they had received induction when they started working at the service.

The service completed staff appraisals, 23 had been completed, with 2 staff members being overdue to receive an appraisal, the compliance score was 92%.

The service completed clinical supervisions; however, data showed only 7 out of 18 staff received a clinical supervision. The data also showed 5 staff had not had a clinical supervision since October 2024. Senior staff said there was now a new manager in place who would ensure clinical supervisions are booked monthly to ensure staff who are on annual leave receive these.

The service had a clinical psychologist who worked closely with the oncology staff providing support for them and providing clinical supervision.

We observed staff of all levels working well together, there were good team working, with a positive culture. Staff communicated effectively to ensure patients care, and treatment needs were being met.

Staff told us they felt supported by managers and senior managers, and they felt they could approach them for support.

We were told, and there was evidence there were positive multi-disciplinary team (MDT) working, these include the local mental health centre, GPs, and physiotherapists.

The service held daily huddles with all departments, an agenda was completed, and each department had to give an update on several topics.

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, reduce their future needs for care and support.

We observed staff promoting healthier lifestyles such as stop smoking during patients’ appointments.

The service had leaflets in the waiting room with information about making healthier choices.

The service had posters displayed in the waiting room where patients could access information regarding leading healthier lives, this could be accessed by a QR code, this included support to stop smoking, stop drinking alcohol, and access to specialist service including cancer services and diabetes services.

The service routinely monitored people's care and treatment to continuously improve it. Staff ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

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The service did not have a waiting list of patients waiting for an appointment, which was a positive for patients attending the service.

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Staff told us the service completed several audits which included the following, infection prevention and control, hand hygiene, WHO checklists, LocSSIPs, patients' documentation, medicines, resuscitation trolleys. Data showed us the service completed 12 different audits relating to outcomes and these were completed either quarterly or 4 monthly, and all met targets identified by the service.

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The service ensured they monitored staff training to ensure completion. Staff told us and we saw their competencies were all up to date.

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

When speaking with patients they told us the service had asked them for consent to treatment which they agreed to.

Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of why gaining consent from the patient was important before delivering the care and treatment.

When reviewing the patients records there were clear documentation staff had sought consent for treatment from the patients.

The service had policies and processes in place relation to consent and ensuring patients could make decisions about their care and treatment.