Urban Village 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 outstanding. At this assessment the rating remains the same.

This service scored 95 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We received 140 completed CQC Give feedback on care forms and 7 handwritten feedback forms. Many people specifically mentioned individual staff who were caring and courteous, and the majority consistently praised staff for being caring and kind. The overwhelming majority provided entirely positive feedback about care and treatment in the previous 12 months.

General comments also included people saying they could not wish for more caring staff; that all staff had time for patients and that staff were non-judgemental and understanding.

Patients confirmed staff were helpful and knowledgeable. Patients said they felt listened to during consultations.

Patients were also positive about the guidance and support provided about areas other than physical health, such as housing, benefits and social outlets.

Patients said UVMP staff were generous with their time in that staff participated in community meetings such as the patient participation group meetings and also attended health walks which helped to develop positive relationships.

Urban Village Medical Practice treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and 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 2024 data reflected people felt listened to and were treated with kindness. The practice performed exceptionally well in the 2024 National GP patient survey in key areas such as patients feeling that health professionals were fairly good and very good at treating them with care and concern. The practice also scored above average in how well they responded to people accessing the services.

The service treated people as individuals and was exceptional in how they made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The service 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.

Processes were available to ensure carers could be identified, and action taken to ensure they received the care and support needed.

The vast majority of patients who commented stated they felt listened to by the doctors, nurses, ancillary other health care professionals and reception staff.

People told us they were treated as individuals and generally commented that there was good communication and support to understand care and treatment and promote wellbeing. In the NHS GP patient survey 2024, the practice performed well and had a positive variation compared to local and national outcomes for patients who felt treated with care and concern by health care professionals was 96% compared with the average response nationally.

Leaders ensured staff had the time and expertise to speak to people in a way which helped them to engage better with services. We saw that people would attend a number of appointments until all aspects of their health care needs were resolved in a way that was acceptable to them. It was noted that staff were persistent, but adjusted their approach according to the need of the patient. For example staff described getting to know patients at the beginning of their health care journey who were resistant to investigation and treatment, but through slowly building trust people accepted care and treatment which eventually supported their journey to better health.

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.

People who used services and gave feedback confirmed they were supported to maintain independence and control. People stated they were able to make choices about their care.

People who identified themselves as having protected characteristics; or as homeless mentioned they were listened to and provided with all the support they needed and did not feel judged. People who were homeless were given a choice of where they would prefer to accept care and treatment.

People confirmed they were offered several choices for appointment times and a choice of the which services they would like to use.

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.

Staff and leaders completed CQC questionnaires and identified that the triage system for appointments meant people could always see or speak with a doctor at short notice if applicable. Staff told us they completed training in how to support people and refer people to services that would speedup up access to care for example, pharmacist. Staff we spoke with knew the process for referral to emergency support, including mental health crisis teams.

The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff gave examples of responding to people’s needs in the moment and acting to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

People confirmed the actions described by leader and staff. People gave many examples of being listened to and comforted by different team members and staff working at UVMP. People commented that nurses, doctors and reception staff, always listened and were attentive and helpful.

During the inspection patients returned approximately 140 CQC give feedback on care (GFoC) webforms. The vast majority received were positive people described actions taken by staff to meet their immediate needs, for example access to emergency appointments which had resulted in people receiving prompt treatment when this was required.

People accessing the Homeless service benefited from direct access to drug workers, tissue viability specialists and experts in infectious diseases to ensure immediate needs were responded to.

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. Staff consistently stated leaders were enthusiastic and supportive of the teams.

Leaders had taken steps to recognise and meet the wellbeing needs of staff, which included the necessary resources and facilities for safe working. Leaders also provided fresh fruit for staff and personal hygiene products were available in the staff toilets.

In the main, staff reported they were listened to, and their ideas were respected and taken seriously.

Leaders had conducted a staff survey in 2024. This report indicated that staff were 100% satisfied with the leadership team. Action was being by the leadership team to address findings any matters raised by staff, such as stress. There was a strong zero tolerance approach by the leadership team in relation to conduct towards staff. Action taken included emphasising and applying the zero-tolerance policy with the practice and enabling staff with additional conflict resolution training.

Leaders also confirmed they have established regular all-staff team-building and training sessions as approved by the commissioning body as expected of all local practices in the area.

Leaders attained recognition as a good employer by meeting the requirements of the Greater Manchester Good Employers Charter in January 2025. The Charter is a voluntary membership and assessment scheme, which aims to elevate employment standards in Greater Manchester.