Spire Fylde Coast Hospital

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

At our last assessment we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating has remained good.  

This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

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 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 patient and their communities.

The service had a vision for what it wanted to achieve and a strategy to turn it into action. This vision reflected the overarching provider aims and objectives. Staff spoken with had awareness of how their work contributed to achieving targets.  

Staff were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. The service promoted equality and diversity in daily work and provided opportunities for career development. The service had an open culture where patients, their families and carers as well as staff could raise concerns without fear.  

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Staff reported that the leadership culture was inclusive and how they felt valued and respected. Relationships between staff of all grades were positive, with strong teamwork and collaboration. 

Staff felt motivated about the future and planned changes for the service. 

Team and Individual staff achievement, and success was recognised and celebrated. Staff were thanked for their work.  

The service had leaders who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders usually had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty and understood the impact their behaviours and leadership had on patient outcomes and experience.

Leaders showed they understood the service and the needs of both staff and patients, and promoted a culture based on openness, learning and respect. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to lead effectively, supported by strong governance, clear systems and regular oversight of quality, safety and performance. Leaders were also actively involved in areas such as safeguarding, with appropriate training in place, demonstrating credibility and commitment to safe care.

Leaders had a range of experience, skills and abilities to run the service, and they understood and managed the priorities and issues the service faced. Leaders were visible and approachable in the service for patients and staff. Staff felt the leaders supported them to develop their skills and take on more senior roles.  

Leaders had taken incidents seriously and knew how to deal with concerns when raised which promoted a positive culture in the service. Leaders attended the wards and departments regularly to assess for themselves how the service was running. 

Staff and patient survey results were acted upon and they supported the use of inclusive resources such as dementia, neurodiversity and faith boxes, ensuring care was tailored to individual needs. They listened to feedback from patients and staff, using it to improve services and outcomes. 

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. 

Staff and leaders acted with openness, honesty and transparency. Staff were encouraged raise concerns and offer ideas; the culture allowed staff to be confident their voices were heard.   Staff we spoke with were clear about how to raise concerns and told us they felt encouraged and supported to do so in their roles. All were able to identify the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and understood how to contact them. Information about speaking up was clearly visible, with posters displayed in staff areas such as the canteen, including contact details for the guardian.

Staff told us when they had raised valid concerns or felt they would be able to, were or would be supported, without fear of detriment. When concerns were raised, leaders investigated sensitively and confidentially. The local senior leadership and provider level were made aware when whistleblowers had raised serious concerns.  Risk registers and management reports contained analysis of concerns over time and associated action plans.  

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. 

Leaders acted to improve where there are any disparities in the experience of staff with protected equality characteristics.  

Leaders took steps to remove bias from practices to ensure equality of opportunity and experience for the workforce within their place of work, and throughout their employment. Staff told us they had opportunities to apply for project work, new roles and to undertake external studies through an open application process.  

The service acted to prevent and address bullying and harassment at all levels and for all staff, with a clear focus on those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act and those from excluded and marginalised groups. Staff felt everyone was treated fairly and that they would be able to report behaviour or attitudes which were negative in style.  

Staff with disabilities were offered reasonable adjustments to support them to carry out their roles well.

The service actively promoted inclusion within the workforce. An LGBTQ+ lead was in place to provide support and raise awareness, and posters and information leaflets promoting equality, diversity and inclusion were displayed in staff areas, including the staff canteen. Staff also had access to support networks and wellbeing resources. Regular staff forums were held every quarter, providing opportunities for staff to share feedback, discuss ideas and contribute to service improvements. Leaders also communicated with staff through regular Hospital Director updates, helping to keep teams informed and engaged. 

The organisation recognised and celebrated staff achievements through annual staff awards and initiatives such as the Inspiring People Award, which recognised team members who made a positive difference through their day-to-day work. Departments demonstrated pride in their work, maintaining high standards of quality and performance while fostering a culture where diversity was recognised and valued. Overall, these arrangements helped create an inclusive workplace where staff felt supported, treated fairly, recognised for their contributions and able to contribute positively to the service. 

The provider 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 acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate.

The service operated effective governance processes through on-site activities such as local and regional clinical governance meetings. There was a range of information collected, monitored and communicated internally at the relevant meetings and was fed upwards to the provider. Performance data was analysed and compared within the provider organisation and where improvements were needed at the location level, action plans were developed to make this happen.   

There was a national medical advisory committee led by a chair and supported by the service leadership, which included approval of practicing privileges and review of clinical outcomes of individual doctors. If there were any concerns with performance, there were processes to follow and if necessary, information would be shared with professional bodies as required.  

Staff at all levels were clear about their roles and accountabilities. Staff had job descriptions, and these set out expectations and responsibilities. Where senior staff had designated tasks related to audit and monitoring quality of services, they understood what was required of them. 

Staff could find the data they needed, in easily accessible formats, to understand performance, make decisions and improvements. The information systems were integrated and secure. Data or notifications were consistently submitted to external organisations as required.  

Leaders made sure that accurate information was discussed and shared with key staff. For example, information was shared via team meetings and daily briefings.

Risks were clearly identified and a formal log of these was used to keep oversight and manage mitigations and/or bring to resolution. Staff contributed to decision-making to help improve sustainability and improve quality of care. 

Audit processes and the outcomes were used to ensure quality of services was maximised. Where improvements were required, leaders ensured action plans and the monitoring of these led to positive changes.  

The service had plans to cope with unexpected events and had a business continuity plan, which included major incident plans.  

The service had not reported any data breaches and systems were secure. Patient identifiable information was handled correctly. 

We reviewed several service level and provider policies and found these were up to date and readily available to staff. There was leadership oversight of the accuracy and validity of each policy.  

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. 

Staff worked closely with referrers, community providers and other healthcare organisations to ensure joined-up care and seamless transitions for patients. Regular referral events were held to strengthen relationships with healthcare partners and increase awareness of the services available, helping to ensure patients could access the most appropriate support when needed. Learning from patient experience was also used to improve services, with patient experience audits helping the organisation understand feedback and identify opportunities for improvement. 

The hospital had increased its engagement with the local community over the previous 12 months through a range of initiatives and charitable activities. This included supporting Boathouse Youth, a registered charity based in Blackpool that provides safe recreational and educational activities for young people aged 5 to 17 years. The hospital supported the charity through annual fundraising events, a Christmas gift appeal and by use of their facilities in return for donations. 

The hospital also supported Helping Hearts Fylde, a local charity focused on supporting children and families in need. In December 2025, staff from across the hospital donated a range of toys and gifts to support the charity's work within the community. These activities demonstrated the provider's commitment to working with local organisations, sharing resources, supporting community wellbeing and building strong partnerships that benefit both patients and the wider population. 

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research.

Continuous improvement was supported through a range of clinical audits, including sepsis audits, patient experience audits and regular reviews of outcomes and performance. Staff used feedback from patients, family and friend’s surveys, online reviews and verbal comments to identify opportunities for improvement. Learning was also shared across the wider organisation, with information about complaints, incidents and never events from other Spire hospitals displayed and discussed to help prevent similar issues and improve practice locally. 

The service encouraged innovative and personalised approaches to care that improved equality of experience and outcomes for patients. Examples included the use of dementia, neurodiversity and faith boxes, communication tools, hearing loops and translation services to meet the diverse needs of patients. Staff demonstrated a proactive approach to planning care, including discussions about mobility, pain management, discharge needs and home circumstances before surgery. Quality improvement initiatives, such as the Fit to Sip project, showed a focus on enhancing patient experience, safety and recovery. Staff also worked closely with community services and healthcare partners to ensure continuity of care and positive outcomes after discharge. 

Learning and development were actively promoted throughout the organisation. Staff were encouraged to undertake training, competency assessments and professional development, with support available for overseas staff and structured induction programmes for new starters.  

Staff hospital undertook a quality improvement project following cases of post-operative low sodium blood levels in elective orthopaedic patients. A multidisciplinary review examined contributing factors across the patient pathway and identified opportunities to strengthen areas including fluid management, patient monitoring, and discharge processes. The project demonstrated a proactive approach to learning and continuous improvement, resulting in actions aimed at reducing risk, improving patient outcomes, and enhancing patient safety.