Spire Harrogate Clinic

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

The service ensured that people and communities were always at the centre of how care was planned and delivered. We checked that the health and care needs of people and communities were understood, and they were actively involved in planning care that met these needs.

We have not awarded this service a score for Responsive.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Responsive.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. 

The service worked in partnership with people to improve their services, they had a planned patient experience group.. The service had a meeting where they were able to discuss the findings of patient feedback and gain further understanding to make improvements. They benchmarked themselves with other clinics in the group. 

The multi-disciplinary team worked together to ensure that patients had all the screening and information they required. Care was planned with the patient to identify any individual health concerns and avoid any delays in appointments and treatment. 

There was a large emphasis on patient choice and ensuring they were adequately informed to make their own choices about their care and treatment plans.  

The evidence showed a good standard. The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. 

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, they worked closely with the local system to identify where they could support partners to meet healthcare needs in the area. 

The service managed care provision, integration and continuity well. They were focussed on a holistic approach, good relationships with local providers and full introduction on handover if there was an onward referral. The consultant remained in consistent contact with the patient and saw each patient again before discharge to make sure they were happy with their care and treatment.  

Patients were fully informed throughout their journey. From enquiry to post discharge they were well communicated with to ensure they were happy and clear on plans and to ensure they had a positive experience. We observed consultations during our visit and saw good interactions throughout. The consultant discussed expectations, people received a follow up phone call and a letter within a few days. 

Care and treatment was provided using evidence based methods, also engaging with the wider community, health providers and colleagues to have a bigger picture of people’s needs. 

The evidence showed a good standard. The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. 

Staff provided information to patients in ways they could understand. The service had access to translation services and could produce easy read versions of information. We saw staff took the time to check patients understood information about their appointments and treatment options. We saw staff had completed training in General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and confidentiality, and patients understood how their information was used by the service. 

Spire Healthcare is registered and uses the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to publish its data security assessment. It completes an annual self-assessment against the National Data Guardians 10 data security standards. This data was displayed and demonstrated compliance.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. 

The service actively sought feedback from people through patient surveys. We saw posters asking for feedback in the department, there was also a box at the entrance for feedback cards. We spoke with some patients following their appointments and they were all keen to tell us what positive experiences they had. Some patients had travelled a long distance to access the clinic and some had returned multiple times and said they would always choose Harrogate Clinic. The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and patients said staff were kind, friendly and professional. 

Complaints were monitored by the senior leadership team and discussed throughout the clinic in order to be ensure everyone was aware of the reasons and everyone could contribute to a resolution and any improvements as a result.  

From the 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2026 there were 3 complaints received and 2 complaints closed. These were all dealt with in line with policy. 

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service was exceptional at ensuring people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. 

Services were designed to make them accessible and timely for people who were most likely to have difficulty accessing care. The service had a dementia strategy, a dementia lead and all eligible staff had completed dementia and learning disability/autism training. All 20 staff who had gone on to undertake the specific dementia course displayed their ‘Dementia Friend’ badges and were keen to learn more about how best to support people with additional needs.  

The service had 3 Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA), who also wore badges for ease of identification. We spoke with some of the MHFAs who spoke at length about their role and we could see how enthusiastic they were about being able to use their knowledge and experience in both their work and personal life. They told us they had an intensive week of training for the role and used an app to access additional support and advice at any time.  

Patients told us they received an appointment in a prompt and timely manner and did not experience long waits when they arrived for their appointment. The service monitored waiting times from referral and made sure people could access services promptly when needed. 

Staff told us they planned people’s care and treatment in advance, so they did not experience delays in their treatment.  

Staff told us they monitored and followed up any patients who did not attend their appointments and rescheduled their appointments promptly to ensure their treatment schedules were not disrupted. 

Managers told us the service had sufficient capacity to meet peoples’ needs and monitored performance around access to minimise any delays to patients care and treatment. 

The service provided complimentary clinical provision to their business co-tenants by supplying access to emergency equipment and clinical support.   

Spire Harrogate Clinic were published in Euans Guide, which provides a disabled access review of the clinic services and were working towards achieving autism accreditation. They invited people with lived experience of disability and visual impairment to advise on better accessibility and recommend adaptations for better patient experience for those individuals.  

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. 

The service had processes to identify any barriers that could disadvantage different groups of people using their service. There was access to interpretation and translation services for patients whose primary language was not English. A room (The Cabin) was dedicated for use for prayer, breastfeeding, time to discuss confidential matters, somewhere quiet to sit or for any specialist needs.    

The service had invited several organisations into the clinic to do walk arounds and identify where they could improve the patient experience for those individuals with a disability or were hearing impaired. They took action on any feedback they received regarding barriers to access or things that would make the patient experience better in addition to any general patient feedback they received. One example was the adaptation to ensure there were accessible bathrooms. 

The provider's equality and diversity policy outlined the processes for equal opportunities including how staff ensured they did not discriminate, including on the grounds of protected characteristics under the Equality Act, when making care and treatment decisions. 

The staff were all trained in equality, diversity and inclusion and there was a lead who was regularly raising awareness and finding ways to promote this in the workplace and for patients.  

Staff and leaders listened to information from people to work with them to meet the access criteria. There was a multidisciplinary team meeting if there was a concern regarding a person's mental capacity to consent to treatment. The final decision was escalated to the General Manager and the Clinical Services Manager.  

The evidence showed a good standard. People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. 

Patients were supported to make decisions about their care through informed consent.  

The staff went out into the community to raise awareness of health related issues and to provide free health checks for the public. They also worked with a number of local charities and businesses to provide education and training to other providers. The service has recently held a padel group, which was in light of the increasing popularity in the game and the injuries that result from it. In this group, which was for anyone to attend, was information from one of the clinic’s consultants on preventing injuries and how to treat immediately. (Padel is a fast-growing racquet sport that combines elements of tennis and squash).  

The service held a similar meeting about menopause due to the rise in awareness of menopause symptoms. This was consultant led and involved meaningful discussions with the public about options, coping strategies, what to expect and when and where to seek further support.