Christchurch Medical Practice

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

We looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. Arrangements were in place to promote people’s privacy.

The National GP Patient Survey (GPPS) 2025 results reflected people felt listened to as well as the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them and treated them with care and compassion. We reviewed feedback sent directly to the Care Quality Commission. People who used the service reported positive experiences, including being treated with care and compassion.

Staff we spoke with understood the principles of obtaining consent to treatment. Feedback from people who used the service and those close to them, was consistently positive about the way staff treated people.

Staff told us they tailored care, support and treatment to meet individual needs. They told us where families had experienced a bereavement, the service contacted them to offer an appointment or follow-up call to discuss any additional support needs. Families were signposted to relevant support services, including mental health support workers, social prescribers and were offered referrals for counselling.

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

The service took steps to understand and respond to people’s individual circumstances. Staff recognised the importance of people maintaining access to their advocacy and support networks and supported people to do this. Reasonable adjustments were in place for people with communication needs, including access to British Sign Language interpreters, hearing loops, and information in large print or braille. People with learning disabilities were supported through annual health checks. The service worked with local community groups and social prescribers to address health inequalities and improve access for people who may be more vulnerable including military veterans. The service achieved Armed Forces veteran friendly accreditation, which meant there was a dedicated clinician with specialist knowledge of military-related health conditions and services available to support them.

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

People were supported to access a wide range of meaningful activities and community opportunities that promoted independence, health, and wellbeing. Staff promoted independence and choice by offering flexible appointment options and supporting people to make informed decisions about their care. The service involved people in shared decision-making, particularly for those with complex needs. For example, we noted the service’s, social and digital support programs were available through self-referral or via the service’s social prescriber. Feedback from people who used these services was positive and highlighted the support and assistance provided by the service.

The service 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. There was a system for appointment triage to ensure people with immediate needs could access services. Staff we spoke with understood the process for referring people to emergency support services, including mental health crisis teams and referred people for same-day consultation with a local community pharmacist using the Pharmacy First Service.

The service demonstrated how people could access care for their immediate needs, including reasonable adjustments to assist them in this process. For example, vulnerable people were offered appointments with the same clinician where possible to promote continuity of care and to support the management of complex health needs. Information about people’s immediate needs was recorded on their clinical records, reducing the need for them to repeat information on each contact.

Home visits were provided for people who were housebound and those living in care homes. The service also undertook proactive reviews and delivered flu vaccination clinics for these groups.

The service promoted the wellbeing of their staff, and we saw evidence they supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The majority of staff told us they were valued by leaders. Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff, which included the necessary resources and facilities for safe working, such as regular breaks. There were processes to support staff in their roles if concerns were raised.

From a review of staff feedback received directly by CQC, the service demonstrated a commitment to creating a caring and supportive workplace, despite workload pressures. The majority of staff we spoke with reflected positively on the service’s focus on wellbeing and how leaders had improved workplace culture. The service demonstrated training and development opportunities were available through appraisal processes. Staff had access to wellbeing resources offered by the service.

Staff were offered additional support through the service’s occupational health partner and had access to a mental health first aider and had access to a mental health practitioner employed through the primary care network (PCN). Leaders demonstrated how staff wellbeing was prioritised through the service’s wellness action plan (WAP) process. A WAP is a personalised tool used to proactively manage mental and physical health. These were tailored specifically on structuring supportive discussions with line managers. Reasonable adjustments were considered and documented within staff appraisals, including working from home arrangements.

The service had a zero-tolerance approach to abuse toward staff with processes in place to support staff and minimise the risk of repeat incidents.