Stourport Medical Centre

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 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.

There was a culture of kindness and respect within the practice. The practice always treated people with empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff demonstrated that they considered patients specific needs and wishes. The National GP Patient Survey Data demonstrated that 89% of respondents felt they were treated with care and concern during their last appointment, which was in line with the national average. Latest data shared from the NHS ‘Friends and Family Test’ showed that the vast majority of patient experience about the practice was highly positive. 94% of patients surveyed said they found their care at the practice to be either ‘Very Good’ or ‘Good.’

Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. For example, private areas were available if patients wanted a quieter area, chaperones were available, privacy curtains were in clinical rooms. During the site visit, we observed staff being helpful and polite to patients and a culture of kindness and respect between colleagues.

Staff gave us examples about how they treated patients with kindness and compassion to support them. For example, the practice had a nominated ‘Carers Champion’ whose role included organising events for carers where patients who were carers could receive support, socialise with other patients who were also carers, and access professional advice from various organisations.

The practice also engaged in multiple charity fundraising activities regularly throughout the year for organisations such as MND, Breast and Blood Cancer UK, Kemp Hospice, and Age UK. In addition, staff made regular food bank donations and wrote cards for patients who were residents of local care homes.

The practice treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristic needs were understood and met. Staff had completed equality and diversity training. To accommodate individual needs, patient requirements were recorded on the patient record such as communication needs such as translation and interpretation support, which included British Sign Language, could be organised. For patients that had difficulty using technology, information could be printed on paper if this was preferred.

We discussed with staff how they responded to changes in people’s preferred gender, name and title. Staff explained any changes were patient led. The practice had a Transgender protocol in place and staff dealt with patient preferences effectively and sensitively.

The practice promoted people’s independence and supported them to make decisions about their care, treatment and wellbeing. They provided patients with information and guidance to enable them to make informed decisions about their care.National GP Patient Survey data showed that 96% of the respondents felt involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment, which was in line with the national average of 92%. 60% of respondentswere offered a choice of time or day when they last tried to make a general practice appointment, which was also in line with the national average. Staff ensured that all necessary information was accessible between services to ensure patient preferences were met to support and maximise patient’s independence and outcomes from care and treatment.

The practice listened to and understood patients’ needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to patients’ needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. The practice had an ‘Emergency Procedures’ policy in place. Staff we spoke with knew how to respond when a patient needed urgent attention and knew the processes to follow to ensure emergency support was given. For example, all reception staff had received Care Navigation training and sepsis awareness training.

There was a system for clinical appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. The duty GP reviewed patient’s queries and various appointments were available such as face to face, online or by telephone.

Leaders demonstrated an exceptional, visible, and sustained commitment to creating a highly supportive, inclusive, and empowering environment where staff feel genuinely valued and able to thrive. This was strongly evidenced by the written feedback we received from 32 members of staff. In addition, we received written feedback from 32 members of staff. All staff reported highly positive experiences of working in the practice, stating they felt very supported by their managers and colleagues. 6 members of staff gave us specific examples where they praised the support they had been given by managers when experiencing personal issues.

Staff were exceptionally well supported through strong teamwork, and we were provided with multiple examples where staff had been provided with opportunities for learning, development, and career progression.

Wellbeing initiatives were well established and widely accessed, contributing to a resilient and motivated workforce. Leaders embedded staff wellbeing into daily practice. For example, all staff were encouraged to socialise with each other; participate in charity and fundraising activities together; the last Friday of each month was ‘Feel Good Friday’ where staff wore casual clothes and brought in food to share with colleagues; there was a book share stand set up in the practice; staff dog walks were arranged; and every Monday the practice provided a supply of fresh fruit for all staff. Staff told us the staff meals arranged had been positive in helping colleagues working across all departments within the practice to get to know each other and become a cohesive team.

Staff mental health was of high importance to leaders, and some staff had been as a Mental Health First Aiders. A Mental Health First Aider is a trained person who acts as a first point of contact for someone experiencing mental health issues or emotional distress, providing initial support and signposting them to professional help.

The Wyre Forest Health Partnership had also recently invited staff across all the practices to attend a talk on the menopause given by one of the GPs. The talk was designed to provide information about the menopause; symptoms and management; lifestyle advice; and where to get support.

All of the staff we spoke with during our site visit gave highly positive feedback. Staff expressed they enjoyed working at the practice and there were good relationships amongst colleagues.

Overall, the highly positive culture in the practice fostered a resilient, motivated, and engaged workforce, directly enabling the delivery of innovative, high-quality, and consistently compassionate care to patients.