Practice Plus Group MSK & Spinal Service, Lincolnshire

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well.
• Staff provided good care and treatment. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients, advised them on how to lead healthier lives, supported them to make decisions about their care, and had access to service information.
• Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people and made it easy for people to give feedback. The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and made changes to improve the service. People could access the service when they needed it and did not have to wait too long for treatment.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s aims, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community, to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually. The service demonstrated good joint working with commissioners.

However:

• Medications that were required to be stored at room temperatures were being transported in a sealed pouch in a back of a van. The medication storage was not monitored during transportation. There was no evidence of actions taken should the journey take longer than two hours or documentation of this, for example risk assessments in place.
• Two patients told us they were not offered emotional support to minimise their distress during diagnostic scans.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with five patients using the services and the feedback was overall positive about the care they received. They told us they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were included in the planning and delivery of their care. The interactions we observed between patients and staff were consistently respectful with staff taking time to support, listen and reassure patients. One patient preparing for a diagnostic scan was not offered noise cancelling support such as noise cancelling headphones that reduce unwanted ambient sounds using active noise control; another patient was not offered emotional support after their diagnostic scan.