BPAS Healthcare

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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.

We rated this key question good. This meant people felt well-supported, cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

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 always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

Following their treatment women were sent a link to share their comments and concerns about the service. A comment from January 2025 about a member of staff read, “She was a lovely person who made me feel very comfortable and informed.” Another comment read, “I think the staff were lovely and very supportive and understanding.”

There were 517 respondents who completed the client satisfaction survey from January to March 2025. The overall satisfaction rate was 9.55 out of 10, and 98% of women said they would recommend the service to someone they knew.

Staff spent time listening to women and let them know they understood them, including their preferences, wishes, personal histories, and backgrounds. We heard staff being reassuring and kind to women and asking questions without judgement. For example, staff regularly used neutral phrases, like “I understand” when women were explaining their situation and talking through their choices. Feedback from one women read, “she [NMP] really put me at ease, and helped me a lot with my feelings of shame and guilt about choosing this path.” Another women gave the following feedback, “The call was very supportive, and the nurse was very understanding and caring. The information was presented in an easy way to understand during what was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.”

The service treated 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.

Women’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs were understood. As part of the assessment process staff asked women about their cultural, social, and religious needs so these could be reflected in their care plan. We listened to staff asking women about their physical and mental health as well as about their social situation and thoughts and feelings about their safety, including their sexual safety. Staff responded to the women’s individual needs. They offered onward referrals and more information in response to their distinct circumstances.

Women’s individual needs and preferences are understood, and these were reflected in their care, treatment and support. For example, women were offered appointments at a time to suit them. Women were offered different treatment options to reflect their gestation of pregnancy.

We heard staff explaining to patients what was going to happen next. For example, during one call we listened to the NMP explain she recognised the woman was trying to entertain her young children throughout the call. They explained they would email some leaflets that contained important information that could be read when the women had more time. They told the women they could recontact the service to discuss the information with a member of the team if they had any questions. The women was pleased the NMP had recognised she was trying to manage her children while taking the call and said she was grateful the information could be emailed to her so she could read through it once her children were asleep.

Women were asked for their preferred name so this could be used throughout their assessment.

Women’s communication needs were met to enable them to fully engage in their care, treatment and support to maximise their experience and outcomes. For example, British Sign Language interpreters were used for women who needed them, or if women were able to lip read a video consultation could be offered.

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

We heard NMPs talking to women about a range of different treatment options, including medical and surgical abortions, as well as non-treatment options including adoption, and choosing to go ahead with the pregnancy.

If women were considering adoption as an alternative to termination treatment. NMPs were able to signpost them to relevant supporting information. They could also offer a referral to a counselling service and make referral to a social care team to support the women through the adoption process. People using the service were able to choose their appointment time and date.

Women were in control of planning their care and support. If they wanted to be supported by a partner, friend, or relative, staff made sure they were involved.

The client satisfaction survey from January to March 2025 showed that 99.6% of women said they felt involved in their treatment decisions, that clear explanations were provided about treatment options, and enough time was given for them to ask questions. Patient feedback from February 2025 included the following statement, “I'm so grateful to have had the service. It was professional, caring, accessible and gave me all I needed.”

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.

Staff recognised that many women would benefit from ongoing counselling and ensured this was offered to all women who attended the service. Staff explained that women could access this service when they needed it.

Staff told us that women sometimes became upset or distressed if they thought they could not have the treatment option they wanted or receive treatment within their timescales. They said occasionally this distress turned to anger and aggression. The service was working to develop a tool that NMPs could use to help deescalate these situations.

Patient feedback collected between January and March 2025 was positive and included the following statement, “The staff were lovely and made me feel at ease. I felt understood and well cared for.”

The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they worked in a supportive environment. Within the telemedical division some staff were trained mental health first aiders. This meant they had received additional training to help identify colleagues who might benefit from extra support, as well as being able to signpost them to support services. Their role also included promoting a healthy work environment by improving mental health literacy and removing stigma about mental ill health through conversations and learning events.

Staff with disabilities or additional needs and responsibilities told us reasonable adjustments had been made so they could perform their duties effectively. For example, staff with dyslexia could have a coloured overlay for their computer to improve readability, staff could request more breaks or split shifts to help with wellbeing and or caring responsibilities. Some staff were issued with speech recognition software and or were given a longer call time so they had the support they needed to complete patient records.

Staff could access support during and or after dealing with a difficult situation. They could access support from senior members of the team, including the safeguarding lead, through a computerised direct messaging platform throughout their consultations. Following an appointment they could access senior staff, including managers, for support when needed.

Most staff worked remotely. However, they were able to contact their team leads through the direct messaging platform at any point during their day. They had a shared chat facility for safeguarding concerns overseen by the safeguarding lead, and a separate chat for all other concerns overseen by the leads. Staff could also seek support for work related, and non-work related, issues through the employee assistance service. The employee assistance service was an independent service that could offer one to one counselling support for staff.

Staff told us they met with their line managers for weekly wellbeing checks. These meetings could be held remotely or face to face.

Staff were given access to a range of services designed to promote their health and wellbeing. These included discounted gym membership, access to a counselling service, access to virtual GP appointments, a will writing service, financial advice, subsidised private health care treatment and discounted life assurance.

The service had a ‘wonder wall’. The wonder wall was used to celebrate staff and their contribution to service delivery and improvement. The service manager had a small budget to present a gift to 3 members of staff receiving a wonder wall award each month. Examples of rewards given included for long service and making a “gold standard safeguarding referral”.