Spire Parkway 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

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and were encouraged to maintain relationships with family and friends. Staff responded to people in a timely way. The service supported staff wellbeing.

At our last inspection we rated this key question as outstanding. At this inspection we have rated it as good.

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 treated children and young people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. We observed caring and warm conversations with patients and their families or loved ones.

Children and young people felt they were treated with kindness, compassion and dignity. When speaking to children, young people, and family members, they all told us staff were kind and caring. Staff spoke compassionately about caring for their patients and they wanted to provide the best care and treatment for them.

The service treated children and young people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Patients care and treatment was individualised to meet their needs. Care and treatment was planned with patients and they were aware of their care, treatment and hospital stay.

The hospital had a prayer box that both patients and staff could use. A dedicated room would be identified every day to allow privacy.

There was a neurodiversity box that had headphones and fidget objects that staff could access.

There was access to a telephone interpretation service. There was a choice of food to meet the dietary requirements of religious and ethnic groups and to account for allergies and intolerances.

Staff recognised that some children and young people may have previously had difficult or distressing experiences in healthcare settings and took steps to make reasonable adjustments to meet their individual needs. Staff discussed any concerns, preferences, or anxieties with the child or young person and their family before treatment to help develop an approach that would promote a positive experience.

Staff adjusted the environment and care arrangements to meet induvial needs. For example, they allocated the largest bay to provide additional space and accommodate family members where appropriate. Staff also aimed to allocate a named nurse for the duration of the child's stay to promote continuity of care and build a trusting relationship. In addition, where it was considered beneficial, the service arranged pre-admission visits so that children and young people could familiarise themselves with the environment, meet staff, and discuss what to expect before their procedure. These measures helped to reduce anxiety and support children and young people to feel safe and comfortable during their care and treatment.

Staff gave an example of how they made reasonable adjustments to support effective communication and family involvement in care. A child who could hear attended the service with parents who were deaf and used British Sign Language (BSL) as their primary language. To ensure the parents could fully understand information about the proposed procedure, risks, benefits, and aftercare arrangements, the service arranged for a qualified BSL interpreter to attend appointments and the initial stage of the procedure in the anaesthetic room.

Staff explained that they would not rely on a child or young person to translate clinical information for their parents or visa versa. This approach helped to ensure that communication was accurate, that parents could participate fully in decisions about their child's care, and that the child was not placed in an inappropriate or potentially distressing position of interpreting complex medical information. This demonstrated the service's commitment to providing accessible, family-centred care and making reasonable adjustments to meet individual communication needs.

The service promoted children and young people’s independence as much as possible within guidelines, so they knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Patients were supported to have choice and control over their own care and to make decisions about their care, treatment and wellbeing. Children, young people’s their parents and carers told us they were fully informed of all the treatment options available to them, including the potential risk. They were aware of their condition, the surgery they required and plans in place for any ongoing treatment or follow up.

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

The service demonstrated how it used patient and family feedback to identify good practice, improve the patient journey, and learn from experience. We reviewed feedback received from the family of a child with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and sensory processing difficulties, who had previously found treatment in a busy NHS environment challenging.

The family described a significantly more positive experience at the service. They told staff that the environment was quiet, calm and felt more private, which helped to reduce the child's anxiety. Consistency of care was particularly valued, with the child being cared for by the same two nurses throughout the visit. The family said staff already knew the child's needs, there was only 1 set of questions to answer, and there was minimal disruption associated with changing clothing or moving between areas.

The family particularly valued the unhurried approach to recovery. Staff allowed the child time and space to wake up and orientate themselves following the procedure, rather than rushing the discharge process. The parent contrasted this experience with a previous admission at a different service, where the child had struggled in an open cubicle environment and had been cared for by multiple different nurses. The family had said the experience was ‘brilliant’.

The service collected feedback from children and young people (CYP), as well as their parents and carers. Feedback was discussed at the quarterly Patient Experience Group which was attended by the Lead Nurse for CYP. The children and young people patient survey from January 2026 to April 2026 had 53 responses, and an average of 91% of children and young people, their parents or carers reported that the overall experience was good or very good. When asked if they felt their child had been well cared for and average of 94% of parents agreed or strongly agreed.

The feedback identified 3 key areas relating to patient expectations; leaving the hospital at the expected time, being provided with contact details should further support or advice be required and having a clear understanding of the next steps in their care.

To address these areas, the service reinforced with staff the importance of clear and effective communication with children, young people, and their families. Discharge packs were reviewed to ensure that relevant contact information was included, and "next steps" cards were introduced to provide patients and carers with clear guidance on their ongoing care and follow-up arrangements.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centered care.

There was a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues. Numerous staff told us it was a great place to work, they felt respected, listened to and able to raise concerns and suggestions. Staff said they could provide high standards of care and treatment and patients and staff wellbeing was paramount.

Staff from the Children and Young People (CYP) teams explained how they worked across departments to meet the needs of children and young people throughout the organisation. Staff spoke positively about the collaborative approach to care and said they valued the opportunity to work alongside colleagues from different specialties. They told us that teams were supportive of one another and worked together to ensure safe and effective care was maintained. Staff explained that if there were staffing shortages, for example due to sickness absence, support could be provided by nurses from other areas who had received European Paediatric Advanced Life Support training and were competent to care for children and young people.

Staff told us they felt supported and were not afraid to speak up if they had concerns. They were aware of all avenues available to them to share their concerns. Staff were mostly positive about the culture within the service and felt listened to and respected.

There had been some new senior managers appointed, and staff said they were visible and visited all areas of the hospital daily. Staff told us they could approach them with any concerns. Staff felt supported by the current senior management.

As the CYP service was a small team, there were no department specific results as surveys of such small staff groups would be unlikely to be anonymous. Therefore, the plan from the staff survey for 2025 was based on the wider hospital survey results. Results for 2025 showed some high scores, an average of 88% of staff had trust in their manager and 84% felt the service was inclusive, and 80% felt respected. Results for recognition and wellbeing and workload fell below 50%. Service leaders had plans to introduce a recognition and thank you item to all meeting agendas and time to discuss positive feedback and examples of good practice. There were also plans to conduct a resource and workload review to identify points where staff felt overloaded and to make plans to address these areas.

We also saw feedback from staff that explained they felt opportunities for professional development were limited, managers had responded with actions to ensure that training needs and wants were captured during 1 to 1 meetings with managers and to encourage participation in shared learning sessions.

The service also had mental health first aiders who staff could access for support. There had been feedback that not all staff felt comfortable talking to the current mental health first aiders and as a result a male mental health first aider had been recruited.

Patients were able to nominate staff members for a recognition award when they received exceptional care. Staff told us being acknowledged in this way boosted staff morale, increased motivation, and reinforced a feeling of being appreciated for their efforts.