Spire South Bank 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

Staff treated patients with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated patients as individuals and supported their preferences. Staff responded to patients in a timely way. Patients had the opportunity to ask questions and were given access to specialist services, including from allied health professionals.

The service worked with patients to understand and manage risks. Care met patients' needs in a way which was safe and supportive and enabled them to do the things that mattered to them.

When people communicated their needs, emotions or distress, staff could manage this in a positive way which protects their rights and dignity and maximised learning for the future about the causes of their distress.

We looked for evidence that patient were treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We assessed the levels of patient’s privacy and dignity afforded to patients. We asked patients to tell us about their experiences, if they were respected, if they understood that they and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence that every effort was made to take patient’s wishes into account and respect their choices, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained 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 always treated patient with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs. Staff introduced themselves to patients and said what their role was. Staff were discreet and responsive when caring for patients. They took their time to interact with patients and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way. Staff avoided holding private conversations over patients.

Staff introduced themselves clearly, explained procedures thoroughly and encouraged patients to ask questions.

Staff responded to patient’s anxieties about their appointment or any planned operations and encouraged patients to bring someone with them if needed for support.

Patients said staff treated them well and with kindness. Staff advised patients if there were any delays to appointments. They apologised and gave regular updates about when they would be seen. Patients told us staff offered refreshments if they were waiting for a long period and arranged transport home if this was required

Staff followed policy to keep patient care and treatment confidential. If bad news was needed to be discussed this would be done in a private setting and voices were kept as low as possible when talking about personal information in a communal area.

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

Staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social, and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs. For example, they would rearrange appointment times so a Muslim patient could avoid attending during prayers or fasting, they would offer a private room for prayer before or after a procedure, they would allow extra time for patients that needed an interpreter. Other personal needs that were met included, supporting patients with learning difficulties, autism or anxiety with longer appointments and a quiet area to wait, carers, advocates or family members were asked to attend if the patient wished.

All areas of the department were accessible by wheelchair and step-free access was provided from street level and the car park. Waiting areas were equipped with fresh drinking water, tea, coffee, and snacks for patients and visitors.

The service promoted patient’s independence, so patient knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Patients were supported to maintain their independence and were actively involved in decisions about their care and treatment. Staff demonstrated a person-centered approach, ensuring patients were provided with sufficient information to make informed choices about investigations, treatment options and follow up care.

Consent was revisited regularly, and staff respected patients right to pause or withdraw from treatment. Information about rights and options was clearly communicated and reinforced throughout the care process.

Patients told us they understood their rights and were supported to make choices about their care, treatment, and wellbeing. They said they were fully informed about available treatment options, including potential risks.

The service made reasonable adjustments to promote independence for patients with additional needs. These included accessible consultation rooms, hearing loop facilities, interpreter services, wheelchair access and longer appointment times when needed.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of individual communication needs and adapted their approach accordingly.

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

The outpatient service responded promptly and effectively to patients’ immediate clinical, emotional and practical needs. Staff demonstrated a proactive approach to recognising concerns and ensuring patients received timely appointments and appropriate intervention.

The service had clear processes for responding to safeguarding concerns or deterioration in health through a system of incident reporting mechanisms and multidisciplinary meetings where risks and immediate needs were discussed. A resuscitation team in the hospital was named every morning. This included a team leader, airway and compressions clinicians and a member of the team who collects additional supplies and equipment if needed. Details of the team were displayed in the department at the start of each day.

Staff wore badges to indicate what level of resuscitation training they had. This made it easy in an emergency, so all staff could clearly see which staff were able to carry out which tasks. This idea was brought about by one of the outpatient nurses and was used across all services within the hospital.

Staff also responded appropriately to patients’ immediate non-clinical needs. Patients experiencing anxiety, distress or discomfort were offered reassurance, privacy and additional support. Chaperones were available when required, and staff made reasonable adjustments for patients with communication difficulties, sensory impairment or reduced mobility.

Patients told us that they felt supported throughout their visit, and they knew who to approach if they needed assistance. During the inspection, we observed staff responding promptly to patient requests for help and maintained regular communication if a clinic was to be delayed.

The service demonstrated effective multidisciplinary working to ensure patients received timely care. Administrative, nursing and medical staff communicated well to respond to changes in clinic demand, urgent referrals and unexpected patient needs.

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

Staff had access to resource and facilities for safe working. This included being able to take breaks in designated rest areas. Staff we spoke with were happy with their working conditions and felt well supported.

Staff felt valued by their leaders and their colleagues. Staff had opportunities to contribute to service development. Staff told us that leaders promoted a positive and inclusive culture in which staff felt valued, respected and supported to deliver safe, high-quality care.

Staff consistently described good teamwork within the outpatient department and reported that colleagues and managers were approachable, visible and responsive. Leaders and managers spoke passionately about their commitment to creating a safe, supportive and resilient working environment. Due to the busy and collaborative nature of the departments, staff rarely worked on their own. However, the service maintained an up-to-date lone working policy.

The service supported staff wellbeing through access to occupational health services, employee assistance programmes, mental health and wellbeing resources and flexible working arrangements where operationally feasible. Staff reported they were encouraged to maintain a healthy work-life balance and felt supported following challenging clinical situations.

Throughout the inspection we observed positive working relationships between nursing, administrative, medical and allied health teams.