Bartholomew Medical Group

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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

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity. They treated them as individuals and supported their preferences. People had choice in their care and treatment. We saw examples where additional support was given to vulnerable patients. Feedback we received from patients was positive around how caring staff were. There was praise for how patients were made to feel empowered and in control of their own situations. The service supported staff wellbeing.

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 patients’ privacy. National GP Patient Survey data reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. The latest available data showed that 88% of patients said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them. This was marginally above the local and national average of 87%.

Through give feedback on care submissions made to CQC, we received positive feedback from patients regarding how supportive staff were. They said things such as “the doctor took time talking about everything” and “the doctors and nurses are attentive, polite and take time to listen to my concerns”.

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. Patient communication needs were met to enable them to be fully involved in their care. Feedback we received from patients highlighted this with one patient telling us “the doctor took her time talking about anything from artwork to food to relax my daughter”.

The practice maintained an up-to-date register of carers so that targeted support could be offered. There was a carers champion in place who reminded carers of their eligibility for free flu vaccinations and health checks.

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. We found that the practice utilised the skills of their social prescriber to ensure patients received the maximum support and resources available. We saw examples of where support from a social prescriber had had a positive impact on patients, this included patients who were identified that would benefit from funding for things like new boilers as they had no hot water and a visually impaired patient who was given specialist equipment which helped them with their daily needs in their own home.

Results from the National GP Patient Survey showed that 91% of patients felt their needs were met during their last general practice appointment. This was marginally above both the local and national average of 90%. We received positive feedback from patients about how the practice empowered patients. They said, “they made sure I was comfortable and in control of the situation, they validated my thoughts and feelings and provided a safe place if I needed to voice concerns.”

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 that ensured people with immediate needs had access to services. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams.

Staff were also able to signpost patients to other areas of support such as social prescribers, the pharmacy first scheme and the local out of hours department when needed.

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

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 and rest areas. Staff reported being supported if they were struggling at work. We saw team building days were established within the practice.

Staff feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive about how their wellbeing was looked after. We saw that the practice had a well-established workforce without a high turnover of staff.

A staff wellbeing survey had been completed recently. It showed that 94% of staff felt valued by their colleagues, and that 84% of staff felt valued by leaders within the practice.