Met Medical

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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

This means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
This is the first assessment of this service at this location.
This key question has been rated good this meant that people were supported and treated with dignity and respect and involved as partners in their care.

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.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.
During our assessment, we observed staff attitudes and behaviours when interacting with the people they treated. People were cared for with kindness, compassion and respect. Privacy and dignity was upheld; staff actively supported patients, understanding and managing their care and treatment, referring them to alternative services other than A&E that was better suited to their needs.
Any personal information was kept confidential; patient care records were kept safe electronically. Appropriate information was shared between other health care professionals. Staff communicated with patients in a way that they understood allowing informed decisions to be made.
Patients felt that they were listened to, staff responded to their needs quickly and efficiently easing distress and discomfort. Staff were professional and diligent.
We observed constructive and respectful interactions between healthcare staff and colleagues from other services, with clear evidence of mutual professional regard.

The evidence showed a good standard. 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.
All staff have completed Equality and Diversity training, the service has an Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Policy. We observed that people were all treated as individuals by staff. Staff considered both physical and mental strengths, unique lifestyles and life choices. This was reflected in the care, treatment and support given.
People’s communication needs were met, to enable them to engage with their care, treatment and support to maximise their experience and outcomes. Staff had access to communication aids, language line and electronic translation software, that they could access on company owned devices, to support communication with patients whose first language was not English.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.
Staff were observed to give people choice around their care when treatment options were available to them. Treatments and plans were discussed, allowing people to be supported in their decision making. This included liaison and referral to other healthcare professionals resulting in people staying at home and not going into hospital. Family and carers were also involved and included in conversations to help support people where needed. This promoted independence, and control around treatment and care for the person concerned.

The evidence showed a good standard. 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.
Communication was key between staff and patients to enable staff to understand fully the needs of the patient and for the patient to fully understand what they were consenting to and any treatment they were receiving. Staff were observed responding to what they were being told, providing appropriate treatment plans for the best outcomes for the patients involved.
Staff were aware that a patient’s condition could change. Staff had tools available to them, such as NEWS2 to help them to recognise any changes and respond accordingly. This also allowed them to monitor the patients’ responses to any treatment.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person centered care.
The service had a well-being policy that staff could access. The service had an employee assistance programme available and occupational health access via an external provider.
The staff we spoke with during our assessment were generally happy working at the service. Training hours had been completed, and mentorship support was available. Staff felt supported to undertake their role. Staff felt safe to come to work and stated that there were no power imbalances. Staff stated that there were no issues around sexual safety or inappropriate behaviours or relationships. Staff worked in pairs and never alone.
Staff got on well and supported each other though they did acknowledge that there may be a slight division between the emergency and urgent care staff and those that worked on the patient transport side of the service. Staff got regular breaks and had regular days off around a rota system. They feel supported around their own individual needs. However, staff stated that not all senior managers were visible and available.