South Milford 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

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, this included a noticeboard to share achievements and an active staff participation group.

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 treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The practice gathered Friends and Family feedback which reflected high levels of patient satisfaction. Patients gave feedback directly to CQC via email and telephone. There was a technical fault with CQC’s digital feedback webform during the period leading up to, and during our assessment. Feedback from patients was mainly positive regarding the care they received from staff.

We observed reception staff respect patients’ privacy and dignity. Arrangements were in place to promote patients’ privacy. Staff across the practice demonstrated an understanding and non-judgmental attitude, they provided patients with timely, clear information about their care. Processes were in place to ensure confidentiality in the reception area; for example, distressed patients or those wanting a private space were offered a separate space to speak confidentially to staff.

The practice worked closely with their local community team and services to provide support. For example, they had collaborated with Up for Yorkshire Digital Inclusion programme to support patients struggling with online access and the use of digital health tools to help improve use of the NHS App and other related health websites.

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.

The practice maintained an up-to-date register of carers so that targeted support could be offered. For example, health checks, support with carers allowance and access to social care and respite.

Feedback received from patients told us they were “treated with respect and kindness”, “polite and helpful” and “staff are friendly, caring and professional”.

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. Administration staff were able to support patients and assist them to obtain support in the community including supporting their referral to other services and social prescribing services.

Latest results from the National GP Patients survey showed that 54% of patients usually got to see or speak to their preferred healthcare professional when they would like to. This was considerably higher than the local average of 41% and national average of 40%.

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. The provider had developed an extensive care navigation toolkit that was used to effectively care navigate patients to the most appropriate appointment or advise on what to do next. This included booking emergency appointments on the same day, or urgent appointments within 3 to 5 days. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams. As part of the assessment the triage system was reviewed, patients were triaged promptly and actioned appropriately. For example, we observed how a patient was booked in for an emergency appointment for the same day.

The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. The provider had undertaken a staff survey earlier in the year to help enable them to understand staff’s views. As a result of the staff survey, the provider had started a staff participation group, this group was made up of staff from all different departments and was used to share good practice, improve communication between teams and make suggestions for where things could be improved.

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.

Team building days were established within the practice. There was a dedicated noticeboard used to celebrate the successes achieved by staff. Feedback from staff was overall positive.