Spire Harrogate Clinic

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

The service had an inclusive and positive culture of continuous learning and improvement that was based on meeting the needs of people who used services and wider communities. 

There were effective governance systems and processes in place to monitor outcomes and patient safety, lessons learned were disseminated at a local and national level. 

The service had capable and compassionate inclusive leaders, the teams had a clinic huddle each day where all departments were represented, and any concerns were escalated. During the huddle they also recognised any staff who had been nominated as going above and beyond for colleagues or patients. 

Staff we spoke to were positive about the leadership culture across the organisation, they said senior leaders were visible and accessible, and they had support from their immediate line managers. 

We have not awarded this service a score for Well-led.

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

The evidence showed a good standard. The service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities. 

The service had a clear strategy and vision and had engaged staff in these from the clinic’s inception. At the very start, before the clinic was ready to open, staff met as a whole group regularly to work together on many aspects, including the strategy. Staff told us they were always consulted about any changes and felt listened to and their ideas were taken seriously.  

Spire Harrogate Clinic had their own Clinic Strategy aligned to the wider corporate strategy. This focused on improving clinic performance, enhancing quality and patient outcomes, investing in the workforce, delivering sustainable financial performance, expanding service provision, and promoting environmental sustainability. 

There was an open culture and staff sought support across the clinic departments and worked together on quality improvement projects.  

Staff, including clinical and support staff, we spoke with liked working at the clinic and had positive experiences throughout the location. They spoke very enthusiastically about the entire team and spoke about the senior leadership team being as involved in day to day activity and team building events as every other member of staff.  

Staff had worked there for varying amounts of time, but all reported similar experiences of good team working and described it as a family. We saw many examples of team events, external fundraising, community ventures and the team supporting community events outside of their work, championing the work that they did at Harrogate Clinic.  

We saw numerous examples in the staff hub and on the ‘Outstanding Board’ that showed how well they worked as a team and enjoyed being together inside and outside of work.  

There were positive working relationships between clinical and support staff across all departments regardless of where staff were regularly based.   

Staff were supported to learn and develop and were appraised annually.  The appraisal data, showed 100% completion for outpatients for the previous 12 months. The development opportunities were available to staff through the Spire Group, however the clinic provided development opportunities of their own and tailored this to staff and clinic needs.  

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service had exceptionally inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They always did so with integrity, openness and honesty. 

Managers and leaders at the service had the relevant skills and abilities to manage the services effectively. They understood the risks to the services and had clear oversight on safety, governance and performance issues through daily involvement and quality monitoring. There were succession plans in place for key roles such as head of departments and directors. 

The clinic’s management structure was supported by the Spire wide senior management team for clinics. Senior leadership was provided by a General Manager, Clinical Services Manager and Quality Governance Manager.   

The senior leadership team had significant experience in their roles and were driven to constantly develop their knowledge and experience. They engaged with clinic staff most days and there was always a member of the senior leadership team on site each day. Department leads were also empowered to be autonomous in their roles, encouraged to make positive changes to their departments but were supported in all aspects of their work where required.  

All staff we spoked with talked about feeling valued and cared for like a family. They were comfortable to speak with senior leads about any challenges in their work or personal life and said that they were supported to face them and reach solutions. 

The evidence showed a good standard. The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. 

The service had a culture where staff said they could speak up, there were freedom to speak up guardian (FTSUG) posters in the clinical areas. Staff knew who the FTSUG was, and they said they would be confident speaking up to senior staff. 

Due to the clinic being relatively small and a close team, there was one FTSUG who was the part of the administration team. They said they felt they had sufficient time to dedicate to the role and if they required any further time out of their usual role then that was never an issue.  

The FTSUG adapted their role to the needs of the clinic staff by being available and approachable but not regularly visiting areas to promote as it was not felt required or appropriate in their setting.  

Staff had access to the provider's Raising Concerns Policy, which encouraged the reporting of safety, quality and ethical concerns without fear of discrimination or retaliation. The policy included details of both internal and external reporting routes, enabling staff to seek advice or escalate concerns outside the clinic if required. 

We heard about one case where a positive outcome had been achieved through the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian process. However, staff reported they had not generally needed to access the service, as they felt supported in their roles and were confident raising concerns directly with their line manager or members of the senior leadership team. Staff described positive working relationships and felt concerns would be listened to and acted upon appropriately. 

The evidence showed a good standard. The service valued diversity in their workforce. They work towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who work for them. 

The provider had a workforce race equality standard (WRES) Action Plan for 2026.  

As part of the Spire Healthcare Group, the clinic's objectives were aligned with the wider organisational strategy. Leaders told us the organisation recognised the value of diversity across all levels of the workforce. We saw examples of diversity within leadership roles, and staff described the culture as inclusive. Leaders reported that visible diversity in senior positions helped demonstrate opportunities for career progression and supported the attraction and retention of a diverse workforce. 

Leaders described a range of initiatives to promote equity, diversity and inclusion across the group. These included colleague-led networks focused on sexuality, race and mental health, alongside a group-wide EDI strategy. Leaders also told us they were investing in development opportunities to support the progression of female colleagues. 

Staff we spoke to felt valued and were able to offer their ideas to improve the service. 

The service had established several colleague network groups, including LGBTQ+, Race Equality and Mental Health First Aiders. They also had a calendar of events and initiatives to celebrate different cultures and traditions throughout the year. This included Race Equality Week International Women’s Day, Pride and South Asian Heritage. These were created with all staff involvement and supported by the equality and diversity champion. 

The service hosted educational events, speaker sessions and a podcast had recently been introduced to promote a more inclusive workplace culture.  

The service had policies and practices demonstrating zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment. They provided ‘Be a consciously inclusive manager’ training to individuals to help them recognise the impact of unconscious bias had on their decisions, behaviours and interactions within the team environment.  

The service continuously measured the impact of this by making efforts to understand their staff and patients, identify gaps or barriers for under represented groups in regular engagement and a positive reporting culture.  

The service invited local organisations to review the clinic from the perspective of individuals with disabilities and visual impairments. They carried out accessible walkthroughs, sought feedback on the patient journey and identified opportunities for improvements.  

The evidence showed a good standard. The service had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate. 

The service had a clear governance structure with an ongoing, clinical and non clinical audit programme in place. Audit results were shared and acted on by the department and managers with action plans in place. All audits were live and visible on their electronic system. 

The hospital had a comprehensive dashboard for performance indicators which was updated quarterly and shared with the team, this was benchmarked against other Spire hospitals. 

The outpatients manager attended the heads of department and governance meetings which gave them oversight of risk at a corporate and departmental level. 

The governance meetings held by Spire Hospitals were not felt appropriate for clinics, therefore the service requested they deviate from the corporate meeting structure and devise their own. At the time of our assessment, the meeting structure had been reduced to three core meetings where all the corporate aspects were reviewed. These meetings all fed into the Practicing Privileges Advisory Committee and consisted of Governance Committee, Operations/Performance Committee, Clinical Committee, which all met quarterly. They also held a Rapid Response Meeting weekly to look at incidents and any actions.  

We saw senior staff receiving information from the daily clinic huddle where any daily risks and actions were shared. 

The risk register held clinic wide risks rather than by department. At the time of our assessment there were no risks on the register relating to outpatients. The highest clinic risk was around reputational damage from negative patient feedback as the clinic was still relatively new. The team was very focused on patient safety and experience and had not had any complaints.  

There was regular communication and oversight from the corporate provider. The senior management team and departmental leads told us how they reported governance, performance and risks to the corporate provider. The senior and departmental managers participated in regular peer meetings to share learning and benchmarking with the provider's other organisations across the region and nationally. 

The clinic had a Practicing Privileges Advisory Group (PPAG) which was made up of a number of clinical staff and a consultant representative. The PPAG is the clinic version of a hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC).  

The Patient and Public Advisory Group (PPAG) met quarterly and provided advice to senior leaders on matters including new consultants, new procedures, clinical governance, consultant updates, and feedback. The Quality Governance Manager subsequently issued a written update to consultants to support communication and engagement. 

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always share information and learning with partners and collaborate for improvement. 

The service understood their duty to collaborate. They worked in partnership with the local system including the Integrated Care Board (ICB) NHS trust and the local safeguarding board which enabled them to respond to the needs of the local health population. 

At the time of our assessment, the clinic did not carry out any NHS work.  

The clinic supported the local community enormously. They provided complimentary health checks at local community events and local businesses, including blood pressure, glucose levels, oxygen saturation and breathing rate. 

They raised money for a local hospice through fundraising initiatives, taking part in their Midnight Glow Walk and holding a Christmas hamper raffle. They also hosted and supported their business meetings on occasions.  

All staff were Dementia Friends which helped to make the services and environment more dementia friendly, supported by the dementia lead. 

The service held patient awareness events such as a menopause event, providing expert clinical advice and practical discussions. 

There was a regular programme of CPD events both online and in person which was available to local healthcare providers and led by the clinic’s consultants.  

The clinic also focused on supporting aspiring healthcare professionals. They invited local college students for a behind the scenes tour and talked about their own healthcare journeys. 

The evidence showed an exceptional standard. The service had a strong focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They always encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contribute to safe, effective practice and research. 

Spire group had a quality improvement strategy, which included the outpatients department’s collaboration with the wider clinic team. 

There were several sustainability initiatives within the clinic and their aim was to be carbon zero by 2030. The catering team had started ‘Brew to Bloom’, which involved collecting coffee grounds for use in gardens and around the clinic grounds. This was part of their commitment to reducing waste and promoting environmental protection.  

The service also celebrated global recycling day as an opportunity to reflect on their recycling progress and saw a significant increase from 48% in 2024 to 57% in 2025. 

Spire Harrogate Clinic have the autonomy to adapt corporate processes to meet the specific needs of the clinic. Their management of safety alerts, 48 hour flashes and policy updates was done through their electronic system. They pioneered the approach for policies which had been adopted across the entire Spire group.  

The service had created their own bespoke, simple committee structure, which included clinical, governance and operations. This was developed by selecting the best patient safety, governance and clinical examples from across the Spire group (38 hospitals) ensuring that the full amount of corporate agenda items were covered within them.   

The leadership team attended 6 ‘lunch and learn’ sessions throughout 2026 providing valuable opportunities to strengthen their leadership skills, enhance the colleague experience, and promote a more cohesive working environment. These improvements ultimately contributed to a better experience for patients.