Archived: SNP Medical

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.

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.

This service scored 80 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We were able to accompany a patient using the service and saw staff treated the patient with kindness, empathy and compassion. Staff treated colleagues at the sending and receiving hospitals with respect. Patients who provided feedback felt staff were caring and compassionate. They said the crews understood their needs and often exceeded their expectations. Staff provided blankets and ensured that patients dignity was maintained through discreet practices.

Staff used a communication book to meet patients’ specific communication needs. This included information in a selection of languages and pictorial descriptors for commonly used phrases. The service did not provide information for patients. However, for longer journeys they ensured that there was a choice of food available to meet the dietary needs of the individual patient. Staff also respected patient’s wishes to have a same gender crew when requested.

Staff promoted patients’ independence. People knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. Patients were encouraged to remain as independent as possible when moving to and from vehicles when safe to do so. Staff had access to specialist equipment to meet patient’s specific needs. All vehicles had the ability to use ambulance trolley stretchers. The service could accommodate bariatric patients. A bariatric patient is someone with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or greater, or a BMI between 35 and 39.9 with a serious health condition. Patient feedback to the service confirmed that staff promoted their choices and independence.

All staff listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff could give us examples of when patients had expressed their individual choices and preferences. These included being able to get off the ambulance on long journeys and comforting anxious or distressed patients. Staff responded to people’s needs immediately and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. There were effective staff ratios to facilitate one to one care in the ambulance and staff had been recruited for their person-centred approach.

The provider cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care. The senior team ensured that the patients’ physical and emotional needs were met. There were always sufficient staff to assist patients, listen to patients concerns or worries and enough time to ensure the safety of the patient and the crew. Staff felt valued, supported and respected by the leaders. Staff we spoke with were proud to work for the provider and the rest of the team. They described the service as having a family feel and that the leaders did everything, they could to support staff. The leaders were available to provide advice and support to staff about work and homelife issues. We heard that leaders supported staff to get timely repairs to personal vehicles when needed. Staff felt part of a team and covered for one another’s absences although sickness rates were low. The provider recognised the efforts of staff clearly cared about them. The appraisal system was used to highlight conversations about career development, but staff felt able to approach leaders to have these conversations at any time. Leaders would also support staff with issues which were affecting their lives outside of the working environment. If staff were having financial difficulties the owner of the service offered a salary sacrifice scheme to pay help staff pay unexpected bills, such as vehicle repairs. The senior team recognised staff efforts at festive times of the year with a financial bonus.