InHealth MRI - Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital

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• 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. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff treated patients as individuals, supported their preferences, and protected their privacy and dignity. Patients had the opportunity to ask questions.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

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

The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs. Staff introduced themselves to patients and took their time to interact with patients in a respectful and considerate way.

Staff in the scanning room responded to patient’s anxieties about their procedure and took steps to reduce the stress within the environment. Patients who were particularly anxious, who were very young, or who had a cognitive impairment were able to have somebody familiar with them if other methods to calm the patient were not successful.

The area used to prepare the patient for the scan was curtained off, so privacy and dignity were respected when patients were having injections. In the scanning room patients were covered as far as possible and not unduly exposed. Examination gowns were available, which were a good size and length to ensure dignity was preserved. Radiographers went through the patient safety questionnaires with patients in a private area to maintain privacy.

Staff followed provider policies to keep patient care and treatment confidential, and we observed staff treating patients with kindness.

The provider treated people as individuals and made sure the care, support and treatment met the patient’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds, and protected characteristics.

Staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of patients and how they may relate to care needs. We saw an example of this from feedback provided by a trust colleague, which celebrated the tailored support staff had provided to an autistic patient.

Patients could provide feedback via a QR code, however, as this was not widely used the provider was working with the host trust to develop more reliable ways of collecting feedback.

We reviewed 5 care records and saw these were tailored to individual needs and circumstances.

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

Staff provided patients with earplugs which protected their ears and helped to reduce the noise. Staff provided choice and control to patients, for example the use of music was optional during the scan, though this had to be at a low volume if repeated breathing instructions were used as part of the scan. If a patient was particularly anxious, staff gave them the option to have someone with them during the scan

Staff asked patients whether they would like to be updated on the time remaining through the scan. A buzzer was provided to patients, and they were encouraged to test this before the scan. This provided reassurance that patients could summon help if needed at any time through the scan.

The provider 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.

The layout of the department was compact, so staff could always be easily summoned if patients needed help. Patients were brought to the waiting area by hospital porters approximately 10 minutes before their scheduled slot to ensure flow was appropriately managed and patient needs were considered.

Patients had emergency call buzzers at hand throughout the scan. Patients who used mobility aids such as walking frames or crutches had them close by and were assisted to use them after their scan was completed.

Staff gave patients and those close to them help, emotional support and advice when they needed it. They were empathetic and considerate of the stress of a scanning environment.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff had access to resources and facilities for safe working. Staff told us that they worked 12-hour shifts with a half-hour break. However, they also told us that condensing their hours to work over 3 days gave them greater flexibility and a better work life balance. Part-time working and the ability to swap shifts were also available to staff.

Staff told us they felt well-supported and valued by their leaders and colleagues. They felt able to provide feedback, raise concerns and suggest ways to improve the service or staff experiences, and could expect a response.

The provider and local leaders ensured that staff with protected characteristics felt included and respected within the service. Initiatives such as ‘no days’ meant that staff could identify days they couldn’t work for religious holidays or other reasons, alongside the option to take annual leave. International recruits were provided with extensive support to understand the cultural changes alongside their job role

Staff had access to employee assistance programmes and occupational health services to support wellbeing.