Essex Way Surgery

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 assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

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 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.

Arrangements were in place to promote people’s privacy. National GP Patient Survey data reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. 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.

During the site visit we observed staff to be friendly and helpful with people at the reception desk and when supporting people by telephone. Arrangements were in place to support people’s privacy, for example during clinical appointments and when checking in for an appointment.

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.

People’s personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met. The provider demonstrated an awareness of the need of different groups within its community. There was a designated LGBTQ+ lead with information available to support people who identified as LGBTQ+. Information about equality, chaperones, privacy, safeguarding and translation services were also displayed. The service had access to language support and made arrangements to accommodate people who required additional support or adjustments. Staff provided reasonable adjustments to support people with additional needs. People’s communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care.

Feedback demonstrated people were confident that staff understood their individual needs.

Staff were required to undertake specific training to improve their own knowledge and understanding of how to support people. All staff had completed equality, diversity and learning disability and autism awareness training.

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

National GP Patient Survey data reflected people were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment. People told us they were listened to and involved in decision making and consent. 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. Staff knew how to respond to people’s immediate needs and how to recognise when urgent help or support was required. Staff told us about systems and training in place to support this, which included guidance and training on sepsis, the use of an alert button on the computer system, and the availability of emergency medicines and equipment.

There was a system for appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. 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 and supported 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 told us they were supported if they were struggling at work and were able to work flexibly to manage personal appointments or those with childcare needs and make up the time to ensure services remained effective for people. The provider supported the team whilst ensuring there was no impact on people using the service.