Stirling Road 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

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated Good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care. People who used the service considered they were treated with dignity and respect. Feedback received from people who used the service included that they were supported and listened to. However, people’s privacy was not always protected, due to conversations being easily overheard.

This service scored 65 (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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Patients’ privacy was not always promoted. Where conversations could be overheard at reception desks, private areas were usually available for discussions. However, at one site, conversations could be easily heard and a patient commented they were embarrassed about discussing their health needs at the reception desk. At another site staff had to work in separate rooms to take telephone calls as background conversations could easily be heard by patients on the telephone to their colleagues. Staff were kind, patient and thorough when talking with people and demonstrated a rapport with them and their personal situation. Staff who acted as chaperones had not always received appropriate training. At one site there was no female member available to chaperone on Fridays. Usually appointments were reviewed to check chaperones were not needed. Staff said once the new rotas were implemented in January 2025 this would no longer be the situation.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met their needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. Staff gave examples of support given to people, such as those who required translation services if English was not their first language. The self check in systems gave information in 11 different languages. Longer appointments were available for people with learning disabilities.

The provider promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Staff were able to give examples of how they promoted independence and choice.

The provider did not always listen to and understand people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff did not always respond to people’s needs in the moment or act to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. The system for appointment triage was not consistently effective. Care navigators took details during a telephone call and asked a series of questions to find the most appropriate type of appointment for patients. However, not all staff were aware that newborn babies could be registered as a temporary patient in order to receive care and treatment. Staff knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams. Changes had been made to access arrangements. However, staff were concerned there was a lack of understanding of the demographic of the area by leaders and if a patient needed to attend A&E, reminders via telephone were sometimes needed to ensure the patient attended A&E. Staff said they were discouraged from doing this.

The provider did not always promote the wellbeing of their staff. They did not always support or enable staff to deliver person-centred care.

Staff said their immediate line managers were supportive, but at some sites they had not seen senior leaders since the new provider took over the practice. Staff said at times they struggled to keep up with all the changes, as meetings were not happening or had been arranged and then cancelled. Leaders said they were working on effective ways to communicate ongoing changes with staff. We saw the plans for the service were communicated with staff prior to the provider taking over. .

Staff said they did not always get regular breaks as their workload was high and they would complete training in their own time, for which they would be paid or get time back. Staff reported when this assessment was announced they had been asked by managers to ensure their training was up to date, however no time was allocated for this.

One member of staff was working in a damp basement room, as there was insufficient space in the main building for them to work and ensure patients confidential information was protected. No risk assessment had been carried out for this.

One site had separate coffee areas for administration and clinical staff. Another site had communal staff facilities and in some, snacks were available to purchase, with monies raised going to charity.

The provider said they were aware the change of provider was a difficult process for staff and were hopeful as changes rolled out this would help to improve staff morale and workload. The provider had implemented an additional annual leave day for staff to take on their birthday. They also highlighted staff achievements in newsletters, such as passing exams or significant life events, such as having a baby. Changes were also being made to make sure rest breaks were incorporated into staff rotas.