Park Medical Centre

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.

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. The service supported staff wellbeing. The practice held GP Veteran Friendly Accreditation. Practice staff underwent training to recognise, support, and flag veterans on their systems to ensure, where appropriate they received timely specialist care. The service actively identified and supported carers and were in the process of data cleansing their records to ensure these were all up to date. The National GP Survey 2025 found patient respondents had reported positively on the care and treatment they received by staff.

The practice used a customised electronic template to consistently record chaperone activity in clinical records.

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.

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. 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 service held a GP Veteran Friendly Accreditation and maintained a patient register to support veterans. The service actively identified and supported carers and were in the process of data cleansing their records to ensure these were all up to date.

Staff that chaperoned were aware of their responsibilities in maintaining a person’s dignity and safety during an intimate examination.

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.

People were asked at registration about their first language and a person’s preferred method of communication was recorded on their electronic record. There were also systems to support staff awareness on people’s literacy, and any digital support needs as well as their preferences regarding communication.

Patients had access to a hearing loop system, professional telephone translation services, and several staff members are able to communicate in additional languages (Hindi, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, French, Polish, German, Slovakian) to further support effective communication.

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

Patients reported positively on the care and treatment they received by staff. The National GP Survey 2025 found for example:

• The percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who stated that they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment was 98% when compared to the National result of, 91%.
• The percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who stated that during their last appointment they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was 98.5% when compared to the National result of 93%.
• The percentage of respondents to the GP Patient Survey who stated that during their last appointment, the healthcare professional was very good or fairly good at listening to them was 96% when compared to National result of, 87%.
• 91% of people found the reception and administrative team at this GP practice helpful, when compared to the National result of, 83%.

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.

The practice implemented a triage model to enable patients access triage through online, telephone and in-person routes. Same-day appointments were available for urgent clinical needs.The process for the triaging of patients enabled clinical staff to prioritise based on patients presenting symptoms.The clinical triage team included advanced nurse practitioners, the duty doctor further supported nurse practitioners and the reception and triage team. During our visit on site the service reported they were able to see patients requiring a face-to-face assessment on the same day.

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.

Staff told us leaders valued them. 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 type days were established within the practice.

The practice had developed learning and support for staff wellbeing and resilience, including supportive information on local and national resources. The service had considered the recognition of stress and considered their workforce including any potential risk of burnout in their GP staff group.

Staff feedback to the Care Quality Commission and all the staff we spoke with, said they felt valued by the service. In summary they reported the practice as supportive, well‑led, and patient‑focused, with strong teamwork, approachable colleagues, and excellent long‑term condition care. Staff felt, listened to, and involved in improvements and enjoyed working for this practice. Training, communication, and work–life balance were prioritised, creating a positive, proactive, and high‑quality working environment.

Internal staff surveys were conducted regularly and comparisons made to the previous year’s results for actioning. The 2023/24 staff satisfaction survey showed improvement, with the proportion of staff who would recommend Park Medical Centre as a good place to work rising from 91% to 100%. The question, if you had the opportunity, would you reapply for your current job? Had improved from 73% to 100%. A staff wellbeing survey was completed between 2023 and 2024 with positive results and action was taken on the few less positive. For example, following the relaunch of their vision and values and improvements in how change is managed, positive staff feedback and compliments are now shared more widely by uploading them to the shared network drive, with an email sent to the whole team whenever praise is received.

Park Medical Centre recognised long service and contributions through an internal staff recognition scheme, with awards and milestones acknowledged at practice-wide meetings.