City Square Medical Group

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.

At our last inspection in 2023, we rated this key question as Requires Improvement as patients privacy and dignity was not always respected. At this assessment, we found that this had improved. The practice is therefore now rated good for providing caring services.

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.

Staff mostly treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Of the 129 people who completed the National GP Patient Survey, 62% found the reception and administrative team at the practice helpful, which was below the local average of 77% and the national average of 83%. Eighty-three percent of respondents agreed the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern during their last general practice appointment, this was in line with the local average of 81% and the national average of 86%. The practice had an action plan, which was developed with staff members to improve the outcomes of the survey; this included the development of bi-weekly role-playing scenarios for reception staff to practise handling difficult calls and enhance patient interactions, alongside workshops focused on customer service skills.

The practice then carried out an internal survey to monitor progress and identify further areas for improvement. One hundred and twenty-four patients completed the survey, where 71% of patients stated they found reception and administration staff helpful, and 80% of patients stated the healthcare professional was good at listening to them.

Staff we spoke with understood Gillick competency and there was a process to ensure young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

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

Patients’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care.

The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Of the 129 patients that completed the National GP Patient Survey, 86% stated they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment, which was comparable to the local average of 88% and the national average of 91%.

The practice identified and met people’s communication needs to ensure they were fully involved in their care, with translation services and accessible information available when required.

Staff helped patients and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services.

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

There was a system for appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services in line with urgency. This was reflected in the results of the National GP survey where 87% of respondents felt their needs were met during their last general practice appointment. In addition, staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams.

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

Staff told us they were valued by leaders. Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff, which included the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, such as regular breaks and rest areas. Staff reported being supported if they were struggling at work.