Goodheart Surgery

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 outstanding. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

This service scored 90 (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 was exceptional at treating people with kindness, empathy and compassion and in how they respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff always treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. National GP Patient Survey data results were above expected and reflected that people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. Feedback from patients shared with CQC was positive in respect of the lead GP who was praised for their compassion, listening to patients and thoroughness in health assessments. Staff were praised for their kindness and caring attitude.

Staff we spoke with understood Gillick competency and there was a process to ensure young adults had control over their own privacy and the amount of parental involvement in managing their care and support.

The practice had a designated member of staff to assist palliative care patients and their carers. These patients and their carers were provided with a direct line contact number to this member of staff and follow up support calls were undertaken. Home visits were available for these patients and regular reviews were undertaken. End of life care plans were implemented and referrals to social prescribers for community support advice were completed.

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.

Patients’ personal, cultural, social, religious and equality characteristics needs were understood and met, and the service was patient focused. Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care and there was a selection of communication cards, and a hearing loop system was provided. Patients’ needs were assessed and recorded on registration and alerts relating to patients needs were used on patients’ records. Staff received training in equality and diversity.

There was a lead member of staff who assisted reviews for patients with a learning disability and arranged these to meet individuals’ needs for example, arranging home visits for reviews to be undertaken. They had a dedicated outreach plan for females on the learning disability register who had not had or were due a cervical smear to provide extra information and offer at home smears to try and increase uptake in this vulnerable group.

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

Staff helped patients and their carers to access advocacy and community-based services. The practice had care coordinators who supported patients and assisted them to obtain support in the community. Equipment was provided to support patients independence such as a hearing loop, lowered reception counter and a wide selection of communication cards. Patients told us they were well supported and had been assisted to access support such as welfare benefits from other agencies. They engaged with their patient population through several outreach and drop-in clinics and held outdoor events such as park run/walk, litter picking days and coffee mornings. Events were advertised on their social media page.

The service was exceptional in how they 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 new system for appointment triage that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. Staff told us this was working well and if they had any concerns about a patient and there were no appointments left on the day, they could discuss this with the clinicians who would assess the patient’s needs. They told us if patients were unable to access or complete the appointment request forms online, they would assist them to do this. We observed staff were very attentive to patients needs and assisted them positively. Following patient feedback, the new triage system was opened earlier to accommodate patients who started work before the 8am initial opening time.

Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams and had information leaflets, flow charts and quick guides to assist them.

The National GP Patient Survey data results were above expected and reflected that people felt listened to. Feedback from patients shared with CQC was positive in respect of the lead GP who was praised for listening to patients and thoroughness in health assessments. Staff were praised for their kindness and caring attitude.

The service always cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and was exceptional at supporting and enabling staff to always deliver person-centred care.

All the staff told us they were valued by leaders and all staff were very positive about the support they received. 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 provision of new office chairs. All the staff told us leaders were approachable, supportive and friendly there was a positive work environment. Staff reported being supported if they were struggling at work and gave examples of the positive support they had received to accommodate family caring roles. Staff feedback was sought through surveys, meetings and appraisal and staff told us they were always consulted prior to any changes.