Church Walk Surgery

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 looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

We found people were supported and treated with dignity, respect and kindness. They were involved as partners in their individualised care needs promoting independence and choice. Staff wellbeing was seen as a high priority and staff told us they were supported.

This is the first assessment of the service and we rated this key question as good.

This service scored 80 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff from other services told us they were treated with respect by the practice staff. We saw staff treating people with kindness and respect within the waiting room. Arrangements were in place to promote peoples’ privacy and a private space was available for anyone requiring one.

Staff that chaperoned were aware of their responsibilities in maintaining a persons’ dignity and safety during an intimate examination. However, we observed the challenges around maintaining peoples’ confidentiality at the reception desk due to the layout and constraints of the building.

The feedback from people who used the service was positive about how staff treated them. People feel that staff know and understand them, including their preferences, wishes, personal histories, backgrounds and potential.

Date from the NGPPS from 2024 to 2025 and feedback received from people using the service reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. For example, during their last appointment, 89% of respondents stated that the healthcare professional was good at treating them with care and concern and 93% felt they were listened too. These result are above the local and national averages.

Staff took part in an initiative each Christmas and donated items to a fill a hamper to give to a family or individual nominated by other patients. The practice had instigated a book swap in reception where patients could take donated books home to read.

The service treated people as individuals and made sure peoples’ care, support and treatment met peoples’ needs and preferences. Data from the NGPPS reflected that people felt involved in decisions about their care. For example, 98% of respondents stated that during their last appointment they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment. This result was above the local and national averages.

Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. The service had 161 people registered with the practice who were identified as carers, all of which were adult. The clinical system identifies carers so appointments can be offered at the most convenient time for them. A member of staff had taken on the role of carers’ champion and processes were in place to support this group of people. Carers packs were available and health initiatives were prioritised for them to support their health and wellbeing.

The service promoted peoples’ independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff helped patients and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services and could refer people to the social prescriber and care co-ordinator for information and guidance for support available to them.

Data from the NGPPS showed that 98% of respondents stated that during their last appointment they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to. This is above both local and national results.

The service listened to and understood peoples’ needs, views and wishes. They used feedback from the NGPPS, the PPG, complaints and comments to respond to peoples’ needs. The appointment triage system ensured people with immediate needs had access to services and staff with the right skills when they needed them. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support.

Changes had been made to the online system for patients to book appointments in 2024. Patients unable to access on line can ring the surgery and reception staff will assist them. Appointments are available to pre book with some protected for urgent on the day needs.

Feedback from people who used the service mainly reported positive experiences with prompt responses to appointment requests, often receiving same day appointments through the online system.

We saw an exceptionally strong organisational commitment and willingness to instigate effective action to promote and achieve equality and inclusion across the workforce by the practice leadership team.

All staff we spoke with told us they felt the practice was very supportive of wellbeing with an open and honest culture and they would be able to talk to all managers and leaders about both professional and personal concerns and know they would be listened too. They described how they would be able to access support and assistance immediately from both internal and established external support networks. The practice had both internal and an external Freedom to Speak Up Guardian (FTSUG) so all staff who worked both directly and indirectly with patients at the practice could raise concerns even if they felt unable to speak to the internal FTSUG.

Staff told us they felt empowered to do their job well and would be listened to regardless of job role if they had a concern or idea, staff said they felt invested in the practice and spoke with passion about working there.

Staff told us they enjoyed the regular social events with colleagues and had been awarded the Royal College of General Practitioners Active Practice Charter Award after a many of staff became involved in fitness based activities. This included completing virtual walking challenges, patients and carers had been invited to join and positive feedback was included on the practice social media site.

The nursing team at the practice had been awarded the Inspirational Practice Award by Lincolnshire Training Hub in 2025 due to the way they worked together and delivered care.